Film: Compliance

Director:Craig Zobel 
Genre: Drama
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: R
Location/Format: Blu-ray
Grade: B+

I first came across the story told in Compliance when researching the themes of power and authority for a book I was teaching about a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. When I shared a slightly less-explicit version of events with my class, they were shocked and horrified--just as I was--and  also confused about how any rational people could convince themselves that what happens in the story is ok. That confusion and horror only grows on realizing that this is based on true events.

In brief, a prank caller phones a fast food restaurant (the fictional ChickWich) and explains that he is a police officer investigating a reported theft by Becky, one of the employees and an attractive teenager. He convinces the (female) manager to strip search her, take away her clothes, and leave her to be "watched" by several different people associated with the restaurant. Some involved protest, some are just fine with it, and eventually the girl is sexually assaulted by one of the people left alone with her.

The question of how we respond to perceived authority--and our responsibility for our own actions--is one that has troubled our society for a long time. We ask whether soldiers are responsible for what their commanders order them to do, whether we should blindly follow religious leaders, whether we owe obedience to governments. Yet Compliance brings that dilemma to a startling personal level. Becky's manager and others involved in her detainment know her. They have worked with her for weeks and months, so why are they so quick to acquiesce to the demands of a voice on a phone. Frequently when viewing this film I wanted to throw something at the tv and shout, "Why would you do that?" Director Zobel has a sharp sense of timing, allowing moments to play out in excruciating real time. When the manager decides to take Becky's clothes to her car as requested, eliminating the possibility of escape in the near future, we follow her long walk out to the vehicle as our minds are left reeling with the exposed girl off camera. The juxtaposition of Becky's horrifying situation and the normalcy of a fast food parking lot is both effective and chilling.

Actress Dreama Walker, playing Becky, is a mixed bag. She is attractive, and as a male viewer I think we are supposed to be titillated by seeing her nude, exposed, and vulnerable, because we must question our own tendencies and actions as well. We are supposed to desire her, and we are supposed to be revolted by her situation, and we are supposed to be revolted by ourselves as well for desiring her. It's an impressive trick film can do--and has done since the days of Psycho--where the audience is linked to the voyeur, the peeping tom, and the criminal, and our own intentions must then be interrogated. But, as I said, Walker is a mixed bag. I'm not sure she quite has the acting chops to handle the role. She loses affect and her responses seem to flatten as the film progresses, and while that could be a very subtle and effective acting choice (the victim going numb and dead to her situation), at times it reads like she just didn't know how to emote in an effective manner. I think I'd have to watch the film more carefully to decide, and frankly this is not a film I want to watch again. It intentionally leaves its viewers feeling dirty, because that's the point. We might be the compliant ones ourselves.

Overall, I think the film effectively raises questions about responsibility, choice, and authority. I classified it as a drama above, but frankly it is also a horror film: Ultimately, no matter how we justify ourselves, we are the only ones responsible for our actions, yet if that's the case, are we prepared to face what our actions may reveal about us in the right set of circumstances--our own potential for cruelty?

Normal people--the people next door, the people in the mirror--can be monsters. And that is truly horrifying.

Alternate Film Title: "I Feel Guilty for Wanting a Chicken Sandwich Now"