COMPLIANCE: UNNERVING

To say that the movie COMPLIANCE is upsetting is an understatement. It's not just the movie itself that disturbs you while watching it but the fact that it is supposed to be based on a true story. Knowing that something like this could have happened makes you wonder just what people are willing to do without allowing morals to kick in.

The movie takes place at a fast food restaurant where manager Sandra (Ann Dowd) is having a problematic day. Nothing seems to be going right, they're short handed and the usual customer complaints are happening. She then gets a phone call from the police telling here that one of her employees has stolen something from a customer. The policeman tells here that they're on their way there but to hold the employee, Becky (Dreama Walker), in the back until they can get there while he stays with her on the phone.

Not thinking anything is wrong with this, Sandra takes Becky to the back office/store room to wait for the police, talking to her about what's going on. Becky insists she's innocent. The policeman on the phone asks Sandra to search Becky which she's not quite comfortable with but does. This is when it begins to get bad. The policeman then asks Sandra to strip search Becky, insisting that she remove every article of clothing she's wearing.

Now some of us would refuse to do so, but the question raised by this film is what happens when someone complies with what the person on the phone tells them to do? In the case here it turns out, and we the viewers already know, that the man isn't an officer at all but a prank caller who gets off making calls like this. But Sandra does as he says, humiliating Becky in the process who must stand there naked until she's given something to wear.

As the film progresses the "officer" continues to have Sandra as well as other members of the staff follow his instructions. Sandra never considers calling her home office or district manager; in part because it's the weekend and she knows her DM is busy at the moment. But to think that she would follow these instructions, odd as they may seem, is a terrifying thing to consider. All the while I kept wondering why they continued to obey and not seriously question the "officer" when no one showed after several hours.

The movie is a chilling experience to watch and an uncomfortable one as well, but that doesn't make it a movie that isn't worth watching. The acting is credible and that's more important than anything with a film like this. You truly believe that these people are caught up in obeying the voice of authority that they trust no matter what they are asked to do. These requests begin as simple ones but eventually lead up to a most horrifying demand that makes you wonder what these people were thinking to listen to this.

I'm sure this film is designated as a drama but in truth I consider it a horror film of sorts. There are not monsters with fangs or claws, there are no ghosts or mangled revenge seeking stalkers, there are simply normal everyday people placed into a situation of being told what to do and blindly following. The monsters here are us and that makes the acts witnessed here truly terrifying.

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