The film Compliance is deeply, deeply disturbing--all the more so because it is based on actual events. Now, sometimes when a film claims to be based on true events, the "truth" is often twisted to the benefit of the story. The events that occur in Compliance are practically a play-by-play of what actually happened in reality. And in order to explain the movie to you, I pretty much have to give the entire plot away. If you don't want to be spoiled, I urge you to stop reading and watch Compliance when you're in the mood for a film that will destroy your faith in humanity. Maybe this weekend? :) :)
So, in real life, in April of 2004, a man called a McDonald's in Kentucky pretending to be a police officer. He told the manager on duty that an employee--a young female--had been accused of stealing money from a customer earlier that day. The manager, Donna Summers, took the employee, Louise Ogborn, to the back of the store, and under the direction of "Officer Scott", searched her belongs, strip-searched her, and kept her clothes from her. Ogborn was forced to wear apron while they all waited for the police to arrive. Since Summers had to get back to work, she called her fiance, Walter Nix, to come in and watch Ogborn. For the next two hours, Nix forced Ogborn to perform jumping jacks in the nude, he inserted his fingers into her vagina, he spanked her, and he forced her to perform oral sex on him. Yes, he was told to do all this by the supposed Officer.
When the police got involved in the case, they discovered that similar prank phone calls had occurred dozens of times in 30 states. The investigation lead to the arrest of David Stewart. Stewart was eventually acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
In Compliance, director Craig Zobel changes the names, the restaurant (it's called "ChickWich" in the film), and some of the details, but the rest of the story remains the same. As Zobel imagines it, these events occurred within a perfect storm: ChickWich's manager, Sandra, is having a terrible day because an employee didn't close the freezer door the night before, resulting in $1500 of spoiled food. Young employee, Becky (Dreama Walker, of Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23 fame), gets on Sandra's nerves as she texts instead of working and acts like a typical sassy teenager. When the call from "Officer Daniels" comes in, the man on the other end sounds authoritative and alternatively professional and a little intimidating. He easily convinces Sandra to search Becky's belongs and, eventually, strip search her. Occasionally, Becky talks to the officer, who seems to know all about her drug addict brother, and uses that information to frighten her even more.
It seems bizarre that no one stops and says "Hey, I think this situation is actually illegal!", but with the stress of the situation and the amazing power an authoritative, white man's voice has over...well, all of us, you can kind of understand how Sandra and everyone involved would allow things to escalate.
The shit really hits the fan when Sandra calls in Van, her fiance, to "guard" Becky while Sandra works out front. Van is portrayed as not a very intelligent man, and although he initially resists the "Officer's" directions to strip Becky, make her bend over, expose herself, etc, he is eventually convinced. These events do not occur when Sandra is in the room and, in fact, when she comes in to check on Becky and Van, the two immediately cover Becky back up and separate. Both of them know that what is occurring is fucked up, but Becky is too frightened and vulnerable to fight back and Van is...I suppose mesmerized at the power he is given over a naked young woman--power authorized by another man's voice and nothing more.
Again, the events are unbelievable to me and yet...they happened. Dozens of times. As did the Milgram Obedience to Authority experiments and the Stanford Prison experiment. The combination of respect for authority figures that is instilled in us from childhood, combined with stress and fear, can make people do horrible things that look insane from the outside, but seem to make complete sense to the person who is doing them. One of the best scenes in Compliance is that last one, in which Sandra is interviewed by a news anchor who asks what she thought when she came in to the storeroom and Becky was still naked. Sandra claims "She was never naked. She was always wearing an apron." When they roll the security tape to show Becky, obviously naked and clearly begging Sandra for help, the camera stays on Sandra's face as shock, horror, and ultimately denial cross over it. In the last lines of the film, she makes awkward small talk with the anchor--choosing not to fully accept her part in the horror.
Some reviewers initially argued that Compliance was exploitative and aimed more to titillate the audience than make them feel empathy for Becky. In my opinion, the film desexualizes the events as much as it can. The stark lighting, the ominous music, and the acting--oh, the glorious acting!--make it clear that THIS IS NOT OK when Van spanks Becky and makes her do other things. While there are definitely elements of the pornographic, this film clearly does not condone the violence that occurs.
As I mentioned before, the acting really makes the film. Ann Dowd gives a wonderful and (mostly) sympathetic performance as Sandra--the middle-aged, schoolmarmish manager. She's a woman who genuinely thinks she is just doing the right thing, although it gets ugly when she claims to be a victim just as Becky was at the end. Dreama Walker is perfect and fearless as Becky. She's plays a perfect 19 year old: one moment she's sassy and owning her youth and attractiveness, the next she's angry and frightened at being accused of stealing. Finally, she is--as the title suggests--completely compliant out of fear and exhaustion. Her eyes just go dead. It's horrifying. Even Bill Camp, who plays the dimwitted, predatory Van, gives a great "ugly" performance. In real life, Walter Nix, who raped Louise Ogborn during the McDonald's prank call, was remorseful and served 5 years in prison. It's amazing to me that this man did these things that were so clearly abusive and awful...and then immediately called his friend and said "I did a bad thing". I mean, I guess it shouldn't be amazing...but to me the whole thing is mind blowing.
Compliance is a rare movie that kept me glued to my seat. Despite the fact that I read a lot about the movie before I saw it, I couldn't tear my eyes away. If the film seems exploitative, it's probably because it's about someone who was exploited. And it's an excellent example of how easily we trust (and/or fear) those who claim to have authority over us--even if they're just a voice on the phone.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Oooh, I heard about this on NPR and really want to check it out!
ReplyDelete