Compliance

This happened more than once, you gotta be shitting me.

It's not often you see a film which purports to be 'based on true events' and see something taking place which you can't actually believe. Compliance is a surprising film because not only did it actually happen, but because it prompted a reaction from me. I was shocked, I was appalled, I was disgusted and to be completely honest I was scared. Even horror films have a hard task of scaring me, and in this film I was worried what would happen next. As I harp on about how it's based on true events, I have to point out, it didn't just happen once, this isn't a one off event, lots of people were pulled into this deceit. I just kept thinking, what the hell would I do in that position?

A fast food restaurant receives a phonecall from the police reporting a theft at their branch that evening on a busy Friday shift, he asks the Manager in charge to take the accused into custody to search her belongings and person, this results in a very long evening in which the perpetrator is held and various staff members are brought into the situation. No one stands up to the person on the end of the phone, they try but he bats them down and argues them into submission using his authoritative tones and knowledge and no one goes out of their way to do anything about the situation. 

So if you don't want to know about the main part of the film you can skip this paragraph I'll say *BEWARE HERE BE SPOILERS* just in case you needed warning. So there's a strip search and the accused, Becky, is kept naked through the majority of the film in the back office and people sit with her whilst the policeman on the end of the phone talks to them both. He asks them to search her in more ways as time progresses. But here's the rub, the policeman, obviously is not what he claims, he's just some schmuck waltzing about his house making a sandwich, writing notes as he goes having a ball it would seem. Thus the main question of the film is presented, would you believe this person on the end of the phone? This is an authority figure, he seems confident and seems to know the important details, he keeps saying it's his investigation and he will take responsibility. When an authority figure tells you to do something when do you have to take responsibility for your own actions? Needless to say this film was a disturbing viewing but it presented something unflinching, honestly, and truthfully, we are aware of the deceit, we are aware of the reality of the situation, and yet it continues, because when an authority figure tells you to do something, you just go along with it because that's what you're supposed to do, right? What would you do?

So now I come to the question, was it worth making this film? Did we need to see this? Did I need to sit through it's pretty swift 85 minute running time? I probably could have turned it off but I was mildly intrigued, call me an idiot but I heard it had Dreama Walker from Don't Trust the B**** in Apartment 23 which I am currently mourning the loss of, and Ann O'Dowd reportedly gave a powerhouse performance, both true. Ann O'Dowd, as Sandra, gives a fully convincing performance as a run down manageress at a shit hole fast food place, I've worked fast food kiosks and repeating the same things over again, dealing with idiotic lazy staff members, secret diners, all that stuff, it clogs up your brain because it's your life and it's so mundane. The film plays on a slight underlying jealousy Sandra has for Becky, she's young and attractive and has a string of boys after her, it's not a played up aspect but it's there, perhaps it makes it that much easier for Sandra to see the bad in Becky. But O'Dowd never overplays these emotions, they just simmer under the surface, she may have doubts but she's flattered by the voice on the end of the phone, it's clear she's made to feel pretty incompetent at her job and someone telling her how well she's doing makes it even easier for her to go along with the situation. That's just me though, and that's why it makes sense when Becky begs her for help, she snaps at her and leaves her because at that point she believes whole-heartedly she is doing the right thing, she is doing something right here. That's how I felt anyway, as I watched, and it was a performance which deserves plenty of recognition, it wasn't a flashy part but it was honest and complex. Dreama Walker is pretty and wide eyed as Becky, she is straining against the situation but is bullied into this situation by everyone around her.

The film is mostly set in the back room of the fast food place, we get the shots of the busy restaurant with customers unaware of what is going on behind the scenes, the staff have their minute discussions about the situation, but nothing is done to stop it. There is a creative use of the camera to avoid anything too risque but then there are the sounds and the shots you do get, the full knowledge of what is going on and the chilling knowledge of that fact. I did think it was an odd moment to introduce the reality of the situation in the middle of the film when we get a good look at Officer Daniels, it could have been at the beginning or the end but it happens at an odd place within the film. Perhaps we, as observers weren't expected to suspend our disbelief for quite as long as the people in the film, but it just felt a bit sudden to me. It uses the fact well and we get some odd juxtapositions as the 'Officer' talks on the end of the phone and we are presented with the core dilemna of the film but perhaps dramatically it could have been at the beginning so we were aware throughout or at the end... I dunno, perhaps that's just me.

This film is worth seeing, not only because of Ann O'Dowd performance which needs more yelling about, but because it prompts a reaction; a vicious gut reaction as your stomach turns at the events taking place. Of course the fact that it is true to events is even more of a reason to see, if only to see how twisted the world can be. It's intriguing, it's riveting and you literally can't not watch it, you will want to see how it ends. Most importantly it's something which illicits a response, no matter whether it's disgust, horror, disbelief, even if you thought it was laughable it's still something, in that sense it's a movie you have to see. Of course as far as entertainment goes, if you like your entertainment showing a mirror to reality, probably not a good example, but still intriguing and shocking. Something to think about at least.