COMPLIANCE

Year: 2012
USA: Magnolia Pictures
Cast: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, James McCafrey, Nikiya Mathis, Ralph Rodriguez, Stephen Payne, Amelia Fowler
Director: Craig Zobel
Country: USA
USA: 90 mins
USA Rated: R for language and sexual content/nudity
USA Release Date: 17 August 2012 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

When a police officer tells you to do something, you do it, don’t you?

Inspired by true events, COMPLIANCE tells the chilling story of just how far one might go to obey a figure of authority.

High-strung manager Sandra (Ann Dowd (GARDEN STATE) is particularly busy at work when she receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee, Becky (newcomer Dreama Walker) has stolen money from a customer of this suburban Ohio fast food restaurant.

Convinced she's only doing what's right, Sandra launches an investigation, following the step-by-step instructions the officer at the other end of the line is giving her, 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.

Why isn’t it easy to “just say no....”