Craig Zobel's powerful true story "Compliance" is one of those movies that almost dares you to look away. As a tense situation grows increasingly uncomfortable, the viewer becomes complicit as a voyeur and participant in a waking nightmare. Just as everyone on screen should know better and should display more sound judgement, you can't tear your eyes from the unbelievable and quite disturbing tale unfolding. It may be the most squirm inducing film of the year. Having caught "Compliance" at a tiny arthouse theater, I heard a lot of discussion outside in the lobby. A fair number of people simply didn't believe that the events depicted in the film could happen. But here's the thing, Zobel's script adheres very closely to the facts of an actual event! There isn't a lot of extraneous fictional material added in for dramatic affect, this sticks to the truth in a straightforward and matter-of-fact way. Based on a real life occurrence in 2004 at a Kentucky McDonalds, the movie's screenplay recreates (although in a fictional setting) what occurred in that store almost exactly according to the restaurant's security video, police reports, and court transcripts.On an average day at your local Ohio Chickwich, the harried manager (Ann Dowd) receives an officious phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer. He identifies a young employee (Dreama Walker) as a thief saying that a woman customer has reported her taking money from her purse earlier in the day. Claiming he has already spoken to Dowd's District Manager, he asks for her cooperation in expediting the investigation while his team is detained. What follows, playing out in basically 90 minutes of real time, is a psychological manipulation that will have long reaching repercussions. Everyone wants to cooperate with authority (Dowd has already displeased her boss with one blunder today), and no one seems willing to challenge the caller even as things start spiraling out of control. The movie establishes fairly early on that this is all a sadistic prank, and once the caller has the store on the hook--he wants to see how far he can push things. Humiliating, debasing, and assaulting Walker, "Compliance" really starts to examine human nature and our willingness to please.
I won't be any more specific. I will, however, say that "Compliance" has one random scene near the end that is absolutely brilliant in its understatement. Once the police are involved, we spend a wordless journey in the cruiser as an officer drives from the station to the restaurant. At first, I wondered why we were along for this ride. But it makes perfect sense. Zobel, in a minimalist approach, is showing just how close actual help and police were during the entire ordeal. "Compliance" succeeds on two very strong performances. Dowd, a great character actress relishing a leading role, is perfect as the woman caught in this moral dilemma. And Walker, whose defiance slips away to resignation, proves she's one to contend with. It's a demanding role and she is definitely up to the task. I can't say that "Compliance" is fun or entertaining, though, because it purposefully seeks to provoke. It's not a movie you will feel ambivalent about--love it or hate it, you will remember it and talk about it. In that, it is an unqualified success. KGHarris, 10/12.
In the early 60's, Psychologist Milgram did a series of studies in which he persuaded both students and non-students to
administer painful shock to subjects. This experiment was done under the guise of testing learning theory. In many, many instances the subjects (confederates) screamed in pain and begged the subjects to stop. Yet because the subjects were instructed to do so by an experimenter in authority, the subjects (playing the role of teachers) continued shocking the subjects. These findings illustrate the power of authority in inducing ordinary people to do horrid things to others. Naturally the ugly, unforgettable real-world manifestation of this is the holocaust. "I was only following orders" goes the feeble reply when the Nazi and SS were forced to answer for their crimes.
The film "Compliance" is a modern day, dramatic, creative, and compelling reenactment of the Milgram studies. As such, it is a "must see" for academics from all fields, but particularly from those focusing interpersonal communication, leadership, persuasion, social psychology, sociology, journalism, law enforcement, and public administration.
In addition to its suitable as an instructional aid and stimulus to classroom discussions, it is an extremely well acted and
fascinating film. Artistically, it is well photographed, and the dialogue and actors are superb. This story is, in fact, a dramatic rendering of real-life instances of similar crimes committed throughout the U.S.
I cannot recommend enough this intelligent, provocative film.
--Wm. R. Todd-Mancillas"Compliance" is a dramatization of several different incidents where a caller to a fast food restaurant, claiming to be a policeman, talked employees into abusing other employees. The caller uses the technique of gradually asking the employees to go further in their actions; as they start to accept one thing, he pushes them to the next level.
The action starts on an extremely busy day, as it happens, right after an employee forgot to close a freezer, resulting in a loss of about $1500 in spoiled food. The caller claims to have a customer with him who saw a young female employee steal money from her purse. He also knows the district supervisor's name, and claims to have him on another line. He starts by asking the manager to search the employee, and progresses to making her undress. The caller says that the girl and her brother have been selling drugs, and claims to be searching her home at that very moment while the brother is under arrest. When the manager shows reluctance to undress the girl, the caller says that the only alternative would be for him to come to the restaurant, arrest the girl, and take her to jail. But if they search her in the restaurant, all that can be avoided.
At this point, I wondered why she didn't ask to speak to the district supervisor, if only to make sure that she was adhering to company policy. But the store manager doesn't think of this. In order to be able to get back to work, she calls her fiance, who has been drinking with some friends, to come in and watch the girl until the officer arrives. The caller manages to convince this man to spank the girl, followed by the girl performing oral sex on him. Why didn't the discussion that led to this set off any alarm bells? Even if he thought the caller was a policeman, wouldn't he have said that since he was engaged to be married, he felt uncomfortable with this series of events? Apparently, in at least one real-life case, this objection wasn't raised.
An interesting change takes place in the manager's mind as events unfold. At the beginning, she tells the other employees that the girl is "suspected" of stealing something from a customer. Later, this is modified into the unequivocal "she stole something." It's as if the manager has to justify what is going on by presuming that the girl is guilty.
The sequence finally ends when another employee comes in and is asked to watch the girl. The caller oversteps here by asking him to undress the girl again. Not having been present for the preceding events, this employee reacts more normally to what sounds to him like an anonymous voice on the phone. He leaves the room, complaining that the caller's request wasn't "policemanly." Another employee confirms that the girl's brother, far from being under arrest as the caller claimed, is actually out of town. The manager confirms that the district supervisor has been out sick all day. The real police station, we discover, was less than five minutes away.
The film is disturbing because we cannot help but wonder how we would have reacted in the same situation. We would like to think that we wouldn't have been fooled, but through the entire process, we know we have access to information that the participants lacked. As social animals, we know we're not supposed to undress and search each other for no reason, and that innocent girls should not be spanked and forced to perform oral sex. But at the same time, as social animals, we are conditioned to respond to authority and follow instructions. The film depicts, on a small scale, what happens in situations of long-term abuse, exploitation, torture, slavery, and genocide. A dictator starts small and works his way up, until one group is shoving another group into concentration camps and gas chambers, and it all seems justifiable to the participants given the shared explanation. Meanwhile, people watching from the outside are horrified.
Yet even in the most depraved situations, some people remain centered, and do not succumb to the temptation to follow orders, to go along with the status quo. What stops them is a high degree of compassion, the ability to put themselves in the victim's place and imagine what they are feeling. It may come down to having a higher than average number of mirror neurons, or it may arise from an independent streak, a mischievous desire to rebel whenever an authority figure tells them to do something. Human society could not survive if we were all independent rebels stability requires most people to do their jobs and follow instructions. But for a society to be healthy and not just a collection of ants, it needs a few people whose response to the instructions is "it's not policemanly." They recognize when the policeman has violated his contract and has become a tyrant. Control, in other words, cannot be perfect. And sometimes those who deviate are criminals, and at other times, heroes.
Read Best Reviews of Compliance (2012) Here
The era of crank phone calls has sure taken a twist. When fast food restaurant manager (Ann Dowd) gets a phone call from someone identifying himself as policeman, she springs into action. Young Becky is accused of stealing from a customer. The assistance of the manager and others in this matter grows until it becomes inane. The film brings light to the problem of serial strip search crank calls...something I didn't know existed. This film is based on the Mount Washington, Kentucky incident which BTW was a McDonald's.The film acting was okay. There is a high perv factor whenever you force a young girl to be stripped searched. Unfortunately this is pretty much the entire film as there is no real subplot to entertain us. This is one of those pervert films masquerading as something that makes a statement such as "Shame." Watch it. Enjoy it. Disturbing? Thought provoking? Oh Please. It's soft core porn.
Parental Guidance: F-bombs, nudity (Dreama Walker).
Want Compliance (2012) Discount?
Craig Zobel's powerful true story "Compliance" is one of those movies that almost dares you to look away. As a tense situation grows increasingly uncomfortable, the viewer becomes complicit as a voyeur and participant in a waking nightmare. Just as everyone on screen should know better and should display more sound judgement, you can't tear your eyes from the unbelievable and quite disturbing tale unfolding. It may be the most squirm inducing film of the year. Having caught "Compliance" at a tiny arthouse theater, I heard a lot of discussion outside in the lobby. A fair number of people simply didn't believe that the events depicted in the film could happen. But here's the thing, Zobel's script adheres very closely to the facts of an actual event! There isn't a lot of extraneous fictional material added in for dramatic affect, this sticks to the truth in a straightforward and matter-of-fact way. Based on a real life occurrence in 2004 at a Kentucky McDonalds, the movie's screenplay recreates (although in a fictional setting) what occurred in that store almost exactly according to the restaurant's security video, police reports, and court transcripts.On an average day at your local Ohio Chickwich, the harried manager (Ann Dowd) receives an officious phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer. He identifies a young employee (Dreama Walker) as a thief saying that a woman customer has reported her taking money from her purse earlier in the day. Claiming he has already spoken to Dowd's District Manager, he asks for her cooperation in expediting the investigation while his team is detained. What follows, playing out in basically 90 minutes of real time, is a psychological manipulation that will have long reaching repercussions. Everyone wants to cooperate with authority (Dowd has already displeased her boss with one blunder today), and no one seems willing to challenge the caller even as things start spiraling out of control. The movie establishes fairly early on that this is all a sadistic prank, and once the caller has the store on the hook--he wants to see how far he can push things. Humiliating, debasing, and assaulting Walker, "Compliance" really starts to examine human nature and our willingness to please.
I won't be any more specific. I will, however, say that "Compliance" has one random scene near the end that is absolutely brilliant in its understatement. Once the police are involved, we spend a wordless journey in the cruiser as an officer drives from the station to the restaurant. At first, I wondered why we were along for this ride. But it makes perfect sense. Zobel, in a minimalist approach, is showing just how close actual help and police were during the entire ordeal. "Compliance" succeeds on two very strong performances. Dowd, a great character actress relishing a leading role, is perfect as the woman caught in this moral dilemma. And Walker, whose defiance slips away to resignation, proves she's one to contend with. It's a demanding role and she is definitely up to the task. I can't say that "Compliance" is fun or entertaining, though, because it purposefully seeks to provoke. It's not a movie you will feel ambivalent about--love it or hate it, you will remember it and talk about it. In that, it is an unqualified success. KGHarris, 10/12.
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