Compliance (2012) User Reviews

The fact that this is a true story is just insane

[zlid · 6/10 · 1 January 2013]

After watching this movie i just couldn't believe it was based on a true story. It boggled my mind that a group of people could be this stupid. In BIG disbelief i searched the net to see if this was really true or just loosely based on a true story. I found proof that it was totally true. Every aspect of the story was true. ABC even did a story about these events with interviews with the manager and the young girl. Also showing actual footage of the events.

The movie is not bad. The characters to a good job. But you will spend more time with your mouth open in disbelief of whats happening then actually enjoying the movie. It really is disturbing.

An Ugly Subject

[Michael_Elliott · 15 January 2013]

Compliance (2012)

*** (out of 4)

Based on a true story about a fast food manager (Ann Dowd) who receives a phone call from a police officer saying that one of the employees (Dreama Walker) has stolen some money from a customer. The officer then tells the manager to take the girl into her office, strip search her and then hold her there until the police can come get her. COMPLIANCE is a film that has made many people angry and the reports of walk-outs were rather shocking to see because you have to wonder why people would buy a ticket for a film like this and then get upset. I had the misfortune of living in Mount Washington, KY for a few years and this is where the original incident took place. It was at a McDonald's that I've eaten at and I even knew of the people involved in the case. Considering the "type" of town this place was it never really shocked me that something like this could happen but apparently it has happened all over the country. Yes, the subject matter is ugly and yes it's incredible that anyone could be so stupid to allow this to happen but it's all based on fact that people can check out. This film is a pretty ugly but I say that in a good way because with a subject like this there's really no way to paint it as something good so I admire the writer-director for just going strongly at the subject. Both Dowd and Walker turn in excellent performances as does the rest of the supporting cast. Again, the subject matter is just so crazy that it has to be true or else you'd start screaming at your television over the characters doing such stupid things. I still have a lot of questions over the actual case and especially consider the character of some involved. Having followed the case there were some major things that I felt were left out but this has little to do with this film. As a film I think it's very effective and ugly just as it should be. One could debate for years about what actually happened and what one would do if they were ever in a similar circumstance.

Well-Acted but Painful to Watch

[eabra48463 · 7/10 · 20 April 2022]

"Compliance" is a film that is painfully difficult to watch at times, because of the nature of what we see and knowing it's all true. The initial reaction is to scoff at what takes place on screen, because it's so preposterous. It's hard to believe people wouldn't wake up sooner and realize what was going on or even have a basic understanding of the law and procedure. But, basic research shows it is all true. The fact this could happen is a testament to the gullibility of the American public, and that's the most painful part of all.

A testament to the failure of education in America

[adamkarz · 6/10 · 28 December 2012]

This movie is simply unbearable to watch. Yes, it is well made and has great acting. But whats infuriating is that it highlights how truly stupid and uneducated most Americans are. Yes, I understand given the notion of authority, people will listen to what they are told, but these people act like they have never heard of due process of law, innocent until proved guilty, asking for an attorney to be present or even asking for a policeman's badge number when he demands strange things. Only at a fast food restaurant, staffed by the most uneducated idiots could something like this occur. Or rather, I would like to think so. It seems as if the caller banks of what the people may have seen in TV shows to get them to follow his orders, but likewise, wouldn't TV at least remind people that officers don't strip search and spank people over like 40 missing dollars? The moral of the story is to stay in school and know your rights. Or you might wind up like these morons someday.

Unpleasant to watch but important

[rbsteury · 8/10 · 3 August 2012]

I saw this today at the Traverse City Film Festival. About 1/4 of the audience walked out before the film ended. I do not disagree that the movie is difficult to watch, but I think you can hardly review a movie where you walked out without seeing the entire film. This film makes an important and real point... that many of us will, when listening to what we assume to be an authority figure, do things which we know are wrong. It also has two characters who say in one way or another "No, I will not do this." Bravo for them and may each of us feel empowered to do the same, if not by our own ethical standards, then by viewing this movie and realizing how devastating the consequences can be.

One would like to be able to say "No one could be so stupid" but the fact that this type of event (involving, reportedly, even more degrading assaultive behavior than portrayed in this film) has happened repeatedly in this country (over 70, according to the closing credits) shows that wish to be untrue. I hope every young person will view this film and be brave enough to refuse any authority figure who makes demands on them which seem to go beyond the bounds of the law and good sense.

And don't ever talk to a law officer in detail without your attorney being present (and no, I am not a lawyer.)

Did not believe this was true until I researched it

[omendata · 5/10 · 21 August 2020]

Unbelievable that there are such low iq folk in the world. It happened to a young girl Louise Ogborn in Mcdonalds just as described in the film.

It makes you wonder why in a crowd of people there is not one with an IQ over 50 to drop the call and ask for the number to phone back or just ask to speak to the Area Manager who was supposedly on the phone!

It is a slow burn, some well known actors and good performances all round and although it is not that exciting it does have some drama and it IS based on a true tale; one of many actually so the one reviewer who thinks it cannot be true should just try and use google and look up Louise Ogborn & Donna Summers & McDonalds & David Stewart. It is kinda spooky as I just watched the excellent "Cheap Thrills" last night which stars the fake Police caller Pat Healy who does give a pretty good performance in both movies and it is his manner which does give credence to the possibility that this actually happened as people are so conditioned to obey people in authority - Mind bogglingly interesting when you know it happened but the movie itself is a bit of a hard watch and is overly long so I cannot give it more than an average 5 out of 10.

Also amazing to note that the hoax caller was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence but the store manager got 5 years in jail so the film does have a place to illustrate how mad the world is becoming and how stupid and like sheep the populace are becoming - not really an eye opener for me as nothing surprises me these days.

Zobel Will Make You Cringe

[benjkramer · 9/10 · 10 September 2012]

"Compliance" is a shockingly terrifying film. As I watched the events unfold on the screen, knowing that they were tightly based off a true story, I had difficulty maintaining my breathing. With a sinister visual style from the start, filled with tight macro shots and a simply greasy aura, as well as powerful performances from all of the cast members, most exceptionally Ann Dowd, "Compliance" transcends from its fast-food setting into something much darker, and much more haunting. The abuse of the young cashier is repulsive. "How could you do that?!" you will continually wonder, wishing the words would escape your head in the form of a scream. This film is frustrating, vexing, and equally engrossing, almost as if the story itself doesn't satisfy man's need for vicarious horror. "Compliance" forces me to question my fate in humanity and the limits of the 7 billion people with whom I share this Earth. Ultimately this film is a sickening narrative, a narrative I might as well wish I had never seen. Must you watch this? No. Is this a vital piece of cinema? No. Is "Compliance" paralyzing, appalling, thought provoking, and, most brutally, true? More than you could ever imagine.

Civics 101

[mswseashore · 7/10 · 2 December 2022]

As a History Teacher of High School Students I am saddened by the lack of basic civic knowledge not afforded to the characters in this film and subsequently the real people who they portrayed. Ignorance is so depressing. Also this situation reminds us the the famous Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgrim Experiments of the 1960's, how easy it can be for authority figures to take control of unsuspecting or passive individuals. This film is important to see and the graphic nature is vital to its message. Look what the citizens of Germany allowed to happen the the 1930's and the tragedy of the followers of Jim Jones to name a few examples.

The news segment is still more interesting than the film itself

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 13 May 2023]

(2012) Compliance PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA

Anyone who "hadn't" read the news, seen the news or basically keep themselves properly informed on whatever what was happening on whatever format they get their news from, would be entranced by this film than people such as myself, since even before I even saw this movie, I had already seen the ABC 20/20 segment about this beforehand, therefore I was already aware about what to expect and when some of those things were happening, asking myself do I really need to watch this as a film and relive all of this all over again, when I had already had a reaction when I saw the actual segment. Movie based on actual events centering on employees working in fast food chains actually believing that an undercover officer or a law enforcer is going to make a phone call (without giving out his proper information for identification) so that their young female employees can perform very degrading acts to relive fantasies made by the unknown caller. Just because the employees must not like working where they're and so forth, that they believing that a cop is at the other end of the line making up false silly accusations that someone had spotted their young female employee stealing customers money when they don't even ask for any kind of ID or anything such as who was accusing them in the first place so that they could confront them. The last time a cop came to my house, he was looking for an address, showed me his badge right away as well as I get to look at his face. And speaking of which, while I was writing a review for this film I remembered someone making a prank call to me at one time posing as some gov't official except that I recognized the a-hole's voice and I filed a complaint against him since it's illegal to pose as a gov't official. And of course, he denied that he had anything to do with it but was given a warning by the police anyway. I would rather beat his ass, but this guy had a history of suing people for money for assault even though he acts like a total dick because he loves to provoke people to throw the first punch. Anyways, I didn't like this movie since I pretty much knew what was going to happen and ended up fast forwarding while playing much of it instead, and highly respect the viewers who did like it for it's intention was to make others aware that these things happen, except that I had already seen this on an actual segment and know some of the actual people that were involved, and to me that is sometimes more interesting than watching something that was based on a real life incident.

I don't care that it's based on true events.

[Ripshin · 18 July 2022]

I lasted less than halfway through this thing. HOW can people be such idiots? For DECADES, we have had television police procedurals. Common sense should have prevented ANY of this from happening,

My walk-away? "GOD, these people vote!"

Maddening

[jordan2240 · 6/10 · 25 November 2022]

I was scam-called by someone pretending to be a cop once. He claimed my wife had skipped jury duty. It was quite convincing for about 10 minutes, and then I realized what he was asking me to do made no sense, so I told him they'd just have to come and put my wife in jail, as he had threatened to do. At that point he became angry and revealed himself for the scammer he was.

The point is, any one of even slightly below average intelligence would have questioned this 'cop' well before things got to where they did. Everyone involved in the incident was a complete moron. That being said, that's not on the actors and filmmakers, as they were just portraying what supposedly happened, and I think they did it well. But you will not be able to watch this without getting extremely ticked, especially at the manager.

Too dumb for this world

[Nevergivea10 · 6/10 · 19 April 2022]

I have not researched the actual event, but if this movie is even close to reality, the participants should be euthanized for the well-being of the rest of us. I had to scan through a few parts that were too disturbing. To think that a young kid could be treated in such a fashion by brain dead adults nauseates me.

Chilling, real, thought provoking

[vandeman-scott · 7/10 · 16 November 2020]

People who say, "No one could possibly be this dumb" are missing the point of COMPLIANCE. We live in a world replete with Svengalis who mesmerize and influence others using glib tongues, intimidation, and fear. From high-end financial crimes a la Madoff, to phone threats from the "IRS," to lottery scams, to internet ransomware, this type of crime happens every single day, and often to people we would consider otherwise intelligent. The question is, "Why?" What within the human condition makes some of us vulnerable to this most insidious form of bullying? Exploitation is nothing new, and that's what this film explores.

Granted, by comparison to run-of-the-mill grifts, Compliance depicts a scam that pushes the bounds of extremity. It also depicts a scam that has succeeded in the real world numerous times, and blaming the victims downplays the very real danger that sociopaths and psychopaths who are genius manipulators pose to society.

And at the very bottom of this entire discussion is a little indie film that is so riveting and well acted, it will be over before you know it.

Recommendation: Watch to Strong Watch.

(December 2022 update: Netflix has just released a true crime documentary, DON'T PICK UP THE PHONE, that outlines just how strikingly true this film is to the actual events it depicts. I highly recommend it as a tandem watch with COMPLIANCE, also currently streaming.)

Compliance

[FKDZ · 5/10 · 26 November 2021]

Compliance is a simple showcase of the psychological effect people with authority have on certain people. And how it is used and abused in this case. A very interesting subject matter, but the movie, is the opposite.

This is slow, tethering on boring. There's nothing thrilling about this, at most its a drama about abuse. The first 30 or so minutes of the movie are really promising. But the directing and acting really lets this movie down. Most of the stuff you'll be watching is people thinking ''oh no I can't do that'' and then doing it.

Now yes, most of what you see is based on real events that actually happened and that's the disturbing part. But to make a movie out of it and not a documentary of sorts asks for a different perspective or feeling. And this movie failed at that. It seems like a weak attempt at a controversial subject.

This movie, especially nowadays is really hard to watch, and believe, that these people could've been THAT gullible is unfathomable.

It would be garbage if it were not a true story

[nsg666 · 10/10 · 9 February 2014]

On the 1st February 2014 author bunnywuv reviewed this film with a heading Stop! Strip search time... and rated it 1 out of 10.

Except for one large point I agree with everything they say in their review effectively that the film is totally implausible and unbelievable. BUT this film is based on true events. Now many films claim this only to be a loose interpretation and highly fictionalised version of the actual events. Today I Googled "what is the film compliance based on" and found another movies web site that shows the actual CCTV footage of the real life event along with clips of interviews with the victim and the manager. Dig this out and you'll find it as disturbing as the film itself.

As for the rating, I've given it 10 not because I enjoyed the film but because I don't want to bring down the average score. No one should like this film but, and only because it is based on true events, it does make compelling viewing.

Should have been a docu-drama

[citizen-caveman · 6/10 · 9 September 2013]

If it hadn't been ripped from the headlines the whole story would likely have been considered ridiculous. There again perhaps that why the hoax was so appalling successful. It's too ridiculous to be a hoax so nobody believed it was.

The subject matter is uncomfortable yet compelling, sort of like rubber necking a car crash. It's uncomfortable for any of us to think we could be taken in by such a hoax and go on to behave so appallingly towards somebody.

The film's strong point is that it becomes hard to dismiss the notion you would do something similar in the same circumstances.

The weak point is how the film explores the subject matter. The plodding plot line becomes predictable though never quite stale. It would be hard to write a plot spoiler for this film. If you were to watch the first thirty minutes then jump ahead another thirty minutes you still be able to follow what's happening no problem. (Yep, I did watch the whole thing.)

Actually I listened more than watched. A lot of the film is like a radio play with pictures thrown in. With the folks in the restaurant on the telephone explaining what they're doing and where to the fake police officer you could look away from the screen and still have a good idea of what is going on. Only towards the end does the film exclusively use pictures to tell the story.

A docu-drama would have permitted interviews that would provide a break from a somewhat monotonous plot line and add insightful context: why did the hoaxer do this? why did his victims comply?

That said, the film still managers to sell a powerful message to an audience that's become more sceptical by the end credits, namely don't unconditionally trust some anonymous voice at the end of a telephone no matter how convincing it sounds.

Angered me for the wrong reasons.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 5/10 · 31 August 2012]

Thing I can say about this movie is that it seriously angered me while I was watching but not for any of the right reasons though.

Watching stupid people doing stupid things, that's how I would sum this movie up. I just couldn't believe how far this guy could take things and how easily and willingly people complied, from pretty much the early start on already. It was crazy to watch and it honestly prevented me from ever getting into this movie and feel for its main characters.

And yes, of course I realize all of this truly happened so I also therefore don't call it unrealistic but that doesn't take away anything from the fact that this movie still felt like such a stupid one. Watching people do things like this is in no way a fun or intriguing experience, not even on a social experiment type of level.

You could definitely see and take this movie as a social study, that shows how easily people can be influenced and talked into doing some things which under no other normal circumstances they would ever agree to do. But I just could never enjoy or take this movie in such a way, simply because I couldn't feel for its main characters and the movie never gave me a true good sense of what was going on in their heads, as a good movie of this sort should always be capable of. Because of that, the movie just never worked on an emotional level for me neither, since I never felt any involvement with its characters, or any of the events.

So for me personally, this movie was being a bit of a shallow and one note experience. I can definitely still see why some people would still 'like' this movie and take it for what it is but it just angered me too much to ever fully appreciate it, on any level.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

At best a missed opportunity; at worst it is shamelessly tawdry in its construct and delivery

[bob the moo · 17 August 2013]

As hard as it will be to believe, this film is very closely based on a real event. A man saying he is a police officer calls a fast food restaurant and gets one of the cashiers brought into the back room by her manager. She is accused of theft and the officer needs the manager to hold her in the room until he can get there. He also needs her to check her purse. And take her phone. And search her pockets. The manager complies and one step at a time things get terribly worse for everyone.

This film had potential. The title suggests that we are looking at the idea of compliance with authority figures and, in order to do that, we will use a real situation to investigation why this occurs. Sadly the film doesn't do any of this and instead simply plays out the real incident without much intelligent to say about it other than telling us it happened. There isn't even discussion after the fact because the ending is spent tying up the mystery (such as it is) in a way that doesn't satisfy and seems tacked on. This lack of insight or commentary is a problem but we are still left with a recreation of sorts – and this is at least delivered with a bit of a sense of tension at first. I say at first not because it flops in the second half but because for it this was replaced by something else – a feeling of the film putting me in the same place as the prank caller, and not in a meaningful way.

The film pushes the sexual material on us in a way it didn't need to. The lead girl is not plain, but blonde with a great figure and the camera doesn't shame away from letting us see it. Nor does it let her break down as the detective reviewing the video at the end of the film tells us she did (crying and begging), instead it keeps her together so that the viewer doesn't feel pushed away by her raw and shredded emotions. It is a very odd series of decisions and I would like to think they were not deliberate but it is difficult when they line up so effectively. The cast mostly do not explore their situations or reasons and, although they follow events, none of them really gave me much beyond what was on the page.

The film does deliver the real events pretty straight but I wondered why it didn't seem to add much to them. There is nothing really in the way of insight or commentary here – the plot plays out and then ends. While doing it though, the film also seems to enjoy the nudity and the sexuality of the lead actress and prevents her from breaking down while also giving her breasts and body plenty of direct line of sight. The film already felt empty and like a missed opportunity – but this just added tawdry to the list.

American ignorance

[danielcereto · 7/10 · 22 May 2020]

I can't believe this movie is based on a true story. How is it possible this could happen more than 70 times? American people should show and teach common sense at school. This movie could help to make to understand about the meaning of ignorance.

Almost too painful to watch

[bowmanblue · 7/10 · 5 October 2014]

I've seen a lot of horror movies that are supposed to be scary and yet there aren't many that are as difficult to sit through as this. It was truly horrible - mainly because it's (almost completely) true (I checked online and apparently this really happened almost word for word in a McDonalds restaurant in Kentucky, USA).

'Compliance' is basically about a prank call, where a man - pretending to be a police officer - phones a fast food restaurant, claiming one of the employees has stolen some money. What follows is psychological manipulation from him, as he gets the staff to make the employee's life more and more uncomfortable.

Part of the problem with choosing to watch a film like this is that you'll find yourself (just like I did), constantly screaming at the characters on screen not to be so absolutely stupid. However, stupid they were in real life, so I guess the worst part about this is that people in real life obviously don't question authority.

You won't enjoy this film - even if you like it (and I did in some ways). It's not a film that's meant to be enjoyed; it's there to show us just how easy it is to fool some people with minimal evidence to support their story. If you think that you can sit through an hour and a half of total - real life - torture of an innocent (if slightly naïve) girl then Compliance makes an interesting tale. It is a good film, but in a weird, unbelievably shocking kind of way.

Effective in what it does.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 17 July 2020]

One very busy day at a fictional fast-food restaurant, the harried manager (the great character actress Ann Dowd) gets a call from an "Officer Daniels" (Pat Healy). Daniels claims that attractive blonde employee Becky (Dreama Walker) has stolen from a customer, and spends practically the whole day and night getting the manager and various others to do some very unpleasant things, supposedly in the name of helping to incriminate Becky.

While watching this, the viewer is apt to think that NONE of this SHOULD ring true, except that this film is a dramatization of similar incidents that happened in real life (70 times in 30 states, according to the text at the end). The viewer is then apt to ponder the abject stupidity of his or her fellow man. Overall, the film devastatingly illustrates the blind trust that some of us place in figures of authority. Some of us automatically get nervous whenever confronted by someone "official", and have an instinct to obey.

But, one would think, common sense would take over at some point. And this "officer" (we see this character at home, calmly putting all of his victims through pure Hell, especially poor Becky) is always able to get them to do ridiculous things. It isn't until an aged franchise employee (Stephen Payne) puts his foot down that people start to seriously question the caller.

It might be hard for some viewers to truly enjoy this, but yours truly was riveted as this ugly nightmare played out. Even though the characters might be infuriating, all the actors involved do a good job, and screenwriter / director Craig Zobel gives the presentation pretty straightforward treatment, with very little in the way of "bells and whistles".

"Compliance" does have to get a debit, however, for that lousy music score.

Seven out of 10.

It's unbelievable that this is true .

[saudaminikulkarni · 6/10 · 10 May 2021]

When you watch this movie and you see the escalation in humiliating acts performed on the poor girl, you start to wonder who's really at fault. Is every one of the employees really that stupid or are they all just brainwashed into blindly following orders like sheep . It also makes you wonder if we're doing kids and teenagers a great disservice by teaching them that they have to be obedient and respect authority figures, against their better judgement. Children have to be taught from a young age that's it's okay to challenge instructions if they feel something is wrong and teenagers need to be taught their rights so no one else is exploited like this. This movie is an adaptation of real events and the acting is decent, but it definitely leaves you frustrated and angry by the end of it.

Hard One To Swallow

[Geri71 · 7/10 · 2 May 2022]

I was a victim to a very similar situation by someone that pretended to be an officer of the law. I didn't know what I was getting into watching this movie as I didn't read the reviews. I will say the actors were good and yet I wasn't sure I could watch the movie to the end. I'm glad the ending happened the way it did as it did to my story as well!!!

Would have worked better as a documentary

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 15 December 2013]

The most interesting thing about COMPLIANCE is that it's based on a true story, something that really did happen in a US branch of McDonald's, and that story is well worth investigating because it's a unbelievably jaw-dropping example of human stupidity. Sadly, this drama fails to tell the story in an interesting or indeed believable way.

You sense from the outset that writer/director Craig Zobel is struggling with his material, searching for sympathetic characters but failing to find them, and really getting out of his depth when it comes to the pacing. The first half isn't so bad, but the narrative falls apart completely in the second, leading up to an ending which is a severe disappointment, leaving you thinking "that's it?". The thing that does save COMPLIANCE is that the acting is pretty decent, especially so given the unknown nature of those involved. Dreama Walker deserves most credit in her challenging role as put-upon employee Becky, but Ann Dowd and Bill Camp are equally impressive.

I'll admit that COMPLIANCE tells a horrifying tale but I think Zobel would have done much better by presenting the tale as a straight documentary a la BLACKFISH or THE IMPOSTER instead of this poorly-attempted narrative stuff. As it stands, and as a film, this is severely lacking.

I Believe It

[view_and_review · 8/10 · 5 January 2022]

"Compliance" is a movie that requires RAMPANT stupidity and naivete. I don't think it is calculable the amount of pure unadulterated stupidity that is required for the events of this movie to occur. What's sad is that I believe that such events could occur. I do believe that you could easily get four or five morons to go along with such a patently illegal and perverse plot.

If you haven't watched it, it's about a twisted pervert who poses as a police officer over the phone and accuses an employee (Dreama Walker) of stealing money. In most places a stunt like this could last about thirty seconds, but in this anonymous rinky-dink town in Ohio it went on for hours. All it took was a naive restaurant manager (Ann Dowd) and about four equally idiotic others to get a full grown woman to strip and put herself through utter humiliation for some money that was allegedly stolen.

"Compliance" tells a sad tale of the human willingness to obey authority to any extent. And it portrays several individuals who, if a gene pool needs to be erased from existence, theirs certainly does--starting with the store manager, Sandra (Ann Dowd).

A very authoritative sounding man pretended to be a cop investigating a theft at a ChickWich (a cheaper Chick Fil-A type restaurant). He made all of his accusations over the phone while a very compliant manager aided him in his investigation. The "investigation" should've been over the moment he asked Sandra to check Becky's (Dreama Walker) stuff, but it wasn't. When the investigation got to the point of a strip search that Sandra and her shift supervisor, Marti (Ashlie Atkinson), both sat in on, there were no more limits to how far these imbeciles would go to comply with authority.

I've rated this movie highly because it stirred and disturbed me deeply. I have no problem saying that I was triggered by this movie. I hated every aspect of what was going on, yet I was impressed how this movie could rouse me to such heights of anger without being propagandistic or plain trash. I think this movie accomplished what it set out to do, even if it was just to get people angry and call the characters s**t-for-brains. But I do believe the movie had a bigger aim, which was to show how easily people will comply with the most absurd demands of authority, and I, for one, believe it.