Film Review: Compliance
On April 9th, 2004, a man who identified himself as a police officer called a McDonald’s restaurant in Mount Washington, Kentucky. Over the course of that day, he convinced the store manager that one of her young female employees had been stealing from customers. The employee was strip searched and subjected to sexual abuse that culminated in her rape, all through the coercion of “Officer Scott” on the phone, and the whole incident was captured on CCTV. Although this case was the most severe, it was not an isolated incident as over 70 similar reports were made in 30 U.S. states between 1992 and 2004.
Craig Zobel’s Compliance was not the first film to be inspired by these events; a Law & Order special featuring Robin Williams as the hoax caller, as well as a short film called Plainview both dramatized the incident. In the Law & Order interpretation, Williams plays the hoaxer as a man at the end of his tether, forced to commit desperate acts in an uncompromising world.
Compliance differs from it’s predecessors in that Zobel has not embellished or glamourised the story; it feels more like a painstaking re-enactment than entertainment. The hoaxer (Pat Healey) is little more than a voice at the end of the phone, a separation that makes his obvious enjoyment at the unfolding of the events all the more chilling.
Around 70 of the 90 minutes that this film lasts are all set within the fast food restaurant itself, the sense of claustrophobia building throughout until it’s almost unbearable. The only relief from the restaurant’s interior are occasional short scenes at the hoaxer’s house, so hardly a light respite. Having the audience aware that the call is a hoax from the start was a clever move from Zobel. He sacrifices the possibility of a Keyser Söze finale for a grinding narrative that denies an escape that’s as simple as hanging up a phone.
Dreama Walker puts in a heartbreaking performance as the young employee, Becky, with her on-screen vulnerability subtle enough to be wholly believable. She doesn’t overplay the role and the tension of the narrative relies on that. Ann Dowd similarly plays store manager Sandra. Again, her performance was wrenching, but for different reasons. She captures exactly the personality of the manager from the Mount Washington case, a woman who just wanted to do the right thing. Her re-enactment, for it was a re-enactment, was the greatest strength of the movie as a whole – Zobel didn’t allow her to become demonised as would have been the easy option – rather, Dowd walks the tightrope between empathy and sickening frustration at her character perfectly.
There is no doubt that Compliance is a well-made, chillingly paced and tense thriller with an excellent script and a cast that all give great performances, but should this film have been made in the first place? Compliance is only the latest in a long list of films that explore the power of authority, a phenomenon first brought to light by the now infamous Milgram Experiment in 1974, but it is only one of a handful that depict a story based on true events.
This seems exploitative in Compliance, the first shot is a black screen dominated by “INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS” plastered across it in towering white letters. Yes, this definitely adds to the audience tension, and as already discussed none of the characters are demonized. But is it morally justifiable to so accurately portray what were ultimately cases of humiliation, sexual abuse and rape?
Overall, Compliance is like a bad car wreck. You know that staring won’t help the victims, you want to look away, but you just can’t.