Compliance (2012)

Let me just say that I wasn't expecting what I saw! After the first 10 minutes, my mouth was opened throughout the entire movie! My first thought was "How in the hell do they know that he is a cop?" and the second question that I kept asking myself was "Why not just say no to the cop?" We all know that cops aren't perfect and some have some sick and unethical behaviors and although we fear them to a point, we gotta use common sense when it comes to ethical situations like this.

I was amazed that this movie was based on true events. I had never heard anything about this in the news. Although the plot was simple and the characters were mostly restricted to the back room of a fast food restaurant, this movie was worthy of hitting the theaters due to the content and nature of it. Everyone needs to see this movie. I loved it!

Fmovies: 'COMPLIANCE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

This is the type of movie that will really leave a lot of viewers feeling disgusted and 'dirty'! It had that effect on me and many others, as there have been reports of multiple viewers walking out on screenings of the film (frustrated and appalled by what they were seeing). I was utterly depressed after watching it and felt that way (on and off) for several days after viewing the movie because of it. To me that's the sign of a well made film. It doesn't mean I liked or enjoyed the movie, those are entirely different things, but I do respect it as the quality dramatic thriller that it is.

The story is based on true events in which a prank call leads to the manipulated sexual harassment (and more) of an employee at a fast food restaurant in a small town. The prank caller (Pat Healy) pretends to be a police officer and convinces the manager of a ChickWich chain restaurant (Ann Dowd) that one of her employees (Dreama Walker) has stolen money from a customer's purse. He then convinces the manager to strip search the employee and get other employees involved. The situation continues to escalate and become more and more disturbing as new people are brought in and manipulated throughout the day. It's based on a series of nearly 60 similar crimes around the US (believed to be perpetrated by the same individual), most specifically the McDonald's case in Bullitt County.

The movie is extremely shocking and at times the actions of the characters seem too unbelievable to be true, but they are, which makes the movie all that harder to watch. Some have called it the 'most disturbing movie ever' but unlike something like 'THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE' this movie actually has a point and something to learn and take away from it. It's a fantastic character and psychological study and the performances are all exceptional. Ann Dowd is particularly impressive in the lead but if there is one weak link I'd say it's Dreama Walker (I wasn't entirely convinced by her at times). For the most part the characters are very believable and feel like people we all really know. It's the writer and director's, Craig Zobel, second film and he really seems like a filmmaker to watch for. Like I said it's definitely a hard film to watch and since it does do it's job right it should leave you feeling sad and disgusted. To be an honest critic you can't judge a movie on how much you liked it, or base your review on other personal biases, you have to rate it on how well it does what it set out to do. This is an exceptionally well made film!

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmQgAuI0jpQ&feature=gp-n-y

On the 1st February 2014 author bunnywuv reviewed this film with a heading Stop! Strip search time... and rated it 1 out of 10.

Except for one large point I agree with everything they say in their review effectively that the film is totally implausible and unbelievable. BUT this film is based on true events. Now many films claim this only to be a loose interpretation and highly fictionalised version of the actual events. Today I Googled "what is the film compliance based on" and found another movies web site that shows the actual CCTV footage of the real life event along with clips of interviews with the victim and the manager. Dig this out and you'll find it as disturbing as the film itself.

As for the rating, I've given it 10 not because I enjoyed the film but because I don't want to bring down the average score. No one should like this film but, and only because it is based on true events, it does make compelling viewing.

Compliance fmovies. This movie is simply unbearable to watch. Yes, it is well made and has great acting. But whats infuriating is that it highlights how truly stupid and uneducated most Americans are. Yes, I understand given the notion of authority, people will listen to what they are told, but these people act like they have never heard of due process of law, innocent until proved guilty, asking for an attorney to be present or even asking for a policeman's badge number when he demands strange things. Only at a fast food restaurant, staffed by the most uneducated idiots could something like this occur. Or rather, I would like to think so. It seems as if the caller banks of what the people may have seen in TV shows to get them to follow his orders, but likewise, wouldn't TV at least remind people that officers don't strip search and spank people over like 40 missing dollars? The moral of the story is to stay in school and know your rights. Or you might wind up like these morons someday.

I dare you to watch Compliance and not have some deep-rooted psychological reaction. Yell at the screen. Curse the characters. Walk out in disgust. I guarantee ANY movie fan will react.

Compliance isn't a movie one can casually watch and shrug-off as if one hasn't just seen something. I am not even sure how my closest friends would react to a film like this one. I watched with curious fascination at first but the fascination and interest quickly evolved into disdain and eventual outrage as the film played itself out for the audience's voyeuristic entertainment. Knowing that the film is based on a "True Story" is even more off-putting but none-the-less (and possibly more) repulsive. Thinking back, it is even unsettling trying to "peg" the audience as the unsuspecting pawns in this perverse social experiment gone horribly wrong.

Before getting to the film specifically, much has been made in regards to this film and a series of psychological tests dating back to the 1960s which have been collectively labeled The Milgram Experiment. These experiments involved test subjects who believed that they were either the subjects of a series of tests OR those in authority conducting this series of tests. The Milgram Experiment was also briefly cinematically explored back in the early 1980's in the film Ghostbusters in which the pretty blonde and the guy were guessing flashcards with symbols on their backsides. A wrong answer garnered a shock (poor guy). The Milgram Experiments were taken much further than this and caused many of the tested-upon subjects to appear to be near death after receiving numerous electrical shocks – the actual subject of the test were those placed in authority: how far would they be willing to go if they were supposedly cleared of all wrong-doing? Would people willingly allow their subjects to die?! Compliance doesn't deal with electrical shocks … but shock you it does! The set-up is simple. A frazzled fast-food manager working on a busy evening with a short shift of workers (and short on supplies like bacon), gets a phone call from a police officer asking about the young, blonde cashier on the front line of the restaurant who has apparently been accused of taking money out of a customer's purse. As the officer is also busy, he is hoping the manager can assist him in asking the young employee (Becky – Dreama Walker of TV's "Gossip Girl") some questions. Calling her into the office, Becky, is confused and bewildered by the accusations; but as the manager Sandra (Ann Dowd – Garden State, Marley & Me, Bachelorette) HAS a police officer on the phone she does not want to appear to believe her own employee over the cop. What follows … is beyond words.

Becky is subjected to a series of humiliations at the hands of Sandra at the behest of Officer Daniels. When Sandra is called away to assist with a series of events in the restaurant, another employee is brought in to watch over a by-now-nude Becky. Handed the phone to talk to Officer Daniels and take his instructions, EACH employee reacts differently Â… some surprisingly and some not-so-surprisingly. The entire point of the film, I believe, is to shock but to also make each of us viewing this aware of WHO we would be. It is simple to say "I'd NEVER do that!" but is that too quick of a reaction. Sandra believes she is doing right because she is talking to a cop (it is NOT a spoiler to say she is NOT Â… this plays out at the very beginning of the film); but does human decenc

Compliance (2012)

*** (out of 4)

Based on a true story about a fast food manager (Ann Dowd) who receives a phone call from a police officer saying that one of the employees (Dreama Walker) has stolen some money from a customer. The officer then tells the manager to take the girl into her office, strip search her and then hold her there until the police can come get her. COMPLIANCE is a film that has made many people angry and the reports of walk-outs were rather shocking to see because you have to wonder why people would buy a ticket for a film like this and then get upset. I had the misfortune of living in Mount Washington, KY for a few years and this is where the original incident took place. It was at a McDonald's that I've eaten at and I even knew of the people involved in the case. Considering the "type" of town this place was it never really shocked me that something like this could happen but apparently it has happened all over the country. Yes, the subject matter is ugly and yes it's incredible that anyone could be so stupid to allow this to happen but it's all based on fact that people can check out. This film is a pretty ugly but I say that in a good way because with a subject like this there's really no way to paint it as something good so I admire the writer-director for just going strongly at the subject. Both Dowd and Walker turn in excellent performances as does the rest of the supporting cast. Again, the subject matter is just so crazy that it has to be true or else you'd start screaming at your television over the characters doing such stupid things. I still have a lot of questions over the actual case and especially consider the character of some involved. Having followed the case there were some major things that I felt were left out but this has little to do with this film. As a film I think it's very effective and ugly just as it should be. One could debate for years about what actually happened and what one would do if they were ever in a similar circumstance.