Sometimes the truth can be scarier than fiction.

A new movie called 'The Stanford Prison Experiment' is about a group of college students to participate in a study that explores abusive behavior in prison. The experiment was headed by a Stanford University professor, who had to shut it down when the students began to display extreme violence against one another.

The most chilling part of the movie is not that the students became violent in less than a week. 'The Stanford Prison Experiment' is based on real-life events.

IFC Films has just released the first trailer of the film, which stars 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' actor Ezra Miller and 'Almost Famous' actor Billy Crudup.

An excerpt of the synopsis reads as follows:

"In this tense, psychological thriller based on the notorious true story, Crudup stars as Stanford University professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo, who, in 1971, cast 24 student volunteers as prisoners and guards in a simulated jail to examine the source of abusive behavior in the prison system. The results astonished the world, as participants went from middle-class undergrads to drunk-with-power sadists and submissive victims in just a few days."

This is not the first time that the real Stanford prison experiment has inspired a movie. In 2001, Oliver Hirschbiegel released the film 'Das Experiment' based on the study. The movie was later adapted into the 2010 Adrian Brody film 'The Experiment.'

'The Stanford Prison Experiment' also stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby, Logan Miller, Michael Angarano, Keir Gilchrist and Thomas Mann. It has already won the Best Screenplay Award at the recent Sundance Film Festival and is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year.

Miller has recently been cast as Barry Allen in the 2018 DC film 'The Flash.'

'The Stanford Prison Experiment' is scheduled for release on July 17, 2015.