Photo credit: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
When a police officer tells you to do something, you do it. Right?
Whenever a film is based on ‘true events’ you can bet the scare factor is high because ‘true life’ is often better than fiction – think “In Cold Blood.”
Such is the case of COMPLIANCE.
“Inspired by true events, COMPLIANCE tells the chilling story of just how far one might go to obey a figure of authority. On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food joint, high-strung manager Sandra (Ann Dowd (Garden State) receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee, a pretty young blonde named Becky (newcomer Dreama Walker) has stolen money from a customer. Convinced she’s only doing what’s right, Sandra commences the investigation, following step-by-step instructions from the officer at the other end of the line, no matter how invasive they become. As we watch, we ask ourselves two questions: “Why don’t they just say no?” and the more troubling, “Am I certain I wouldn’t do the same?”
The second feature from director Craig Zobel (the man behind the 2007 Sundance hit Great World of Sound), COMPLIANCE recounts this riveting nightmare in which the line between legality and reason is hauntingly blurred. The cast delivers startlingly authentic performances that make the appalling events unfolding onscreen all the more difficult to watch – but impossible to turn away from. Delving into the complex psychology of this real-life story, COMPLIANCE proves that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.” Production notes.
Ann Dowd
“Honestly, I didn’t believe that this happened, which was my first reaction. Reading that there were multiple cases of it, I thought, “I’d never do that.” There was something significant about how many cases there was of it, which started a clicking in my head. All the cases forced me to rethink how realistic I’m being, in that I would never do this. Have I never in my life done something I disagreed with, because someone with authority over me told me that I had to? Everyday there’s small cases where that can happen, and that’s why I wanted to make the movie.” Craig Zobel
Zobel was in town for a screening at The E Street Cinema.
Why isn’t it easy to “just say no….”
Bill Camp
The Official Trailer:
