COMPLIANCE Review

Release Date: August 17, 2012 (Limited)
Director: Craig Zobel
MPAA Rating: R

Craig Zobel’s Compliance is a deeply disturbing, yet masterfully crafted tale, based on true events. It’s not a film for everyone, and it’s a difficult film to watch and to write about. That being said, it’s a wonderfully shot, riveting, nail-biter of a film that will leave you yelling at the screen and wanting it all to be over. It’s one of the few instances where the term “Inspired by true events,” is not only a true statement, but reinforces the events of the film.

For those that aren’t familiar with the subject matter, I’m going to be deliberately vague when describing the plot, but it involves a series of horrific events that take place in a fast-food restaurant, involving a call made to the store from someone claiming to be a police officer.

The film by and large consists of only two locations- the restaurant, and the caller’s home.  The entire film is based solely around a phone conversation between this person and various employees of the restaurant.  This style, coupled with closeups of the various grease-laden food products of the establishment, give the film a very claustrophobic feel, which only accentuates the building tension.

And tension is what this film has in spades.  As the atrocities to the poor girl increase, you will find yourself wondering how far this is going to go.  While it starts off as just being weird and mildly humiliating, it slowly ramps up till it becomes almost unwatchable.  It’s this awkward and disturbing feeling that Zobel keeps you in throughout nearly the entire duration.  To the film’s credit, this was the intended purpose, to make it feel as though we the viewers are being violated along with the characters in the film.

The performances are spearheaded by Ann Dowd, as the ignorant store manager, and Dreama Walker, as the ignorant victim.  While these two were the standouts of the film, all the performances were believable, and conveyed the everyman style of the characters.  The viewers instantly get the feeling they know these people, which again adds more validity to the story.

As stated previously, the first thing one sees when this film opens is “Inspired by true events,’ in large see-through letters on the screen.  This is the most important aspect of the film. It’s a story so incomprehensible that if you didn’t know this really happened, it would just be too unbelievable.  The fact that all these people were not questioning anything and just following the orders of someone on the phone is insane.

Compliance is not an easy film to watch, but it isn’t intended to be.  It gets under your skin and sits with you long after the credits roll, and will certainly make you think the next time you walk into a fast-food restaurant.  The most horrific and befuddling thing about this movie, is that what you’re seeing really happened, and that’s the thing that makes this a must-see.