The American Experiment | Official Trailer | Netflix

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the new five-part documentary series The American Experiment reexamines the improbable achievement that was the nation's founding, and the radical question at the center of the revolution: Can a people govern themselves? Featuring an extraordinary range of voices including former vice presidents and cabinet officials, current and former members of Congress, a former Supreme Court justice, leading historians, tribal chiefs, military experts, and thought leaders across the political spectrum, the series presents uniquely bipartisan, wide-ranging, and deeply informed conversations about the origins and future of American democracy. Tracking the years leading up to the Revolution through the drafting of the Constitution and the first American presidency, The American Experiment explores how a nation built on an untested idea has continued to wrestle with the foundational contradictions of slavery, liberty, individual power, and minority representation - and how American democracy has been built, challenged, and reimagined over the course of two and a half centuries. Cinematic in scope and urgently relevant, The American Experiment reveals how the debates that defined the country's founding era still shape the United States, posing a pivotal question at a moment of profound division: Can this extraordinary experiment endure?

Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81930568

Official Trailer & Key Art Debut

ABOUT THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT:

Releases Globally on Netflix on June 24, 2026

Synopsis: As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the new five-part documentary series from Luminant and Playtone reexamines the improbable achievement that was the nation's founding, and the radical question at the center of the revolution: Can a people govern themselves? Directed by Brian Knappenberger (Turning Point) and featuring an extraordinary range of voices including former vice presidents and cabinet officials, current and former members of Congress, a former Supreme Court justice, leading historians, tribal chiefs, military experts, and thought leaders across the political spectrum, the series presents uniquely bipartisan, wide-ranging, and deeply informed conversations about the origins and future of American democracy. Tracking the years leading up to the Revolution through the drafting of the Constitution and the first American presidency, The American Experiment explores how a nation built on an untested idea has continued to wrestle with the foundational contradictions of slavery, liberty, individual power, and minority representation - and how American democracy has been built, challenged, and reimagined over the course of two and a half centuries. Cinematic in scope and urgently relevant, The American Experiment reveals how the debates that defined the country's founding era still shape the United States, posing a pivotal question at a moment of profound division: Can this extraordinary experiment endure? The series is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Brian Knappenberger, and Sarah Huisenga.

Director: Brian Knappenberger

Executive Producers: From Luminant and Tom Hanks's Playtone, The American Experiment is executive produced by Knappenberger, Sarah Huisenga, Hanks, and Gary Goetzman.