Review of Compliance (2012) by Hardy C — 30 Sep 2013

One of the more squirm-inducing films I've seen in a long while, 'Compliance' does indeed make one want to shout at the screen. I've never been one to go out of my way to buck authority, but I have also never bowed to it unquestioningly, which made this an especially grueling thing to witness on a personal level.

It may strain credibility, but I've seen this sort of kowtowing before and it isn't pretty, especially when it's going exactly as planned, as it is here in a mercilessly faithful re-enacting of true events.

This is a well-made film that only missteps here or there. Zobel's unconcealed desire to voice his disgust for the fast food industry (which is far from the point here) and a need for one last scene of slightly over-written dialogue just barely nudges it out of New Classic status.

The film reaches perfection in its moments of quiet, devastating truth as when the camera prowls after Ann Dowd (in a brilliantly measured performance) as she walks across the barren landscape of the parking lot holding a plastic bag of her employee's clothes, a lone cup rolling across her path like a tumbleweed, and cleans out her car of fast food detritus before the cops she so respects, and who are never coming, can see them.