Review of Compliance (2012) by Matt B — 07 Jun 2015

Green Day's song "American Idiot" came to mind when watching Compliance. I cannot believe it's based on real events because it's a story about people so dumb you would think there's no way people could fall for prank calls like this. But they did.

Compliance itself is a fantastic indie feature despite it's disturbing scenes and the fact that most of the film takes place in one room. Compliance falls into the category of great movies lately that feature gripping scenes in just one spot like Boyle's 127 Hours and the underrated Ryan Reynolds flick "Buried".

The story is pretty simple, you have a prank call to a fast-food joint where the man says he's a police officer and a woman at the cash register stole money from someone's purse and he tricks the manager to interrogate her and strip-search her. There's much more that happens as the Manager tries to do her job and keeps handing the phone over to other people that both work at the restaurant and people she knows personally as they all comply with this fake officer's demands. I won't get too far into what kind of things the prank caller has people do to this employee being held captive in a back-room for a supposed robbery because I don't want to give it away but it's pretty disturbing to think people are that dumb to trust someone over the phone as being a cop.

For a movie with unknowns the acting really was superb. I found myself laughing a couple of times as the prank caller chuckled as he got these idiots to do as he asked because they didn't want to get in trouble with the law. Ann Dowd really stuck out in Compliance as she played the character most dooped by the prank caller. I really enjoyed Pat Healey as the prank caller posing as an officer of the law. Healey has the role that was the glue that held the movie together as his voice over the phone really made each scene creepier and dark than the last.

Compliance is a film that some people have been reported to have walked out on because they were so disturbed. It is a different kind of shocking though, not a torture-porn kind like we're used to these days but an unsettling awkwardness that we're seeing something we shouldn't but we can't look away. This is a film everyone has to watch because it shows people you have to question what people say and who they say they are. There really are people who are just too gullible and will believe what people say and not question it and that's what this movie is all about.

The writing in Compliance is what holds it together because most of the entire film is one big conversation over a prank call. For most films that would be a downfall but Writer/Director Craig Zobel really did a wonderful job keeping viewers disturbed but entertained throughout.

This well-reviewed indie is what I call a one-watcher, because it's too disturbing to want to watch again. But that being said Compliance is hard to ignore as one of the better films of 2012.

Movie Breakdown -.

Writing: 23/25.

Directing: 21/25.

Cinematography and score: 15/25.

Acting: 21/25.

Total: 80/100.