I don’t think you will find a better subtle cautionary tale than Compliance. Based on a pretty accurate story that was repeated around 70 times, its impact is not in excessively pounding the theme into the viewer, but by quietly showing its point from person to person. The quiet deference to authority of the characters escalates to some very serious crimes, all because no one was willing to aggressively question what was happening. It is a situation every person has been in to some degree, and personally made me make sure I take more responsibility for my actions in my everyday life.
Sandra (Ann Dowd), the manager at Chicwich (so McDonalds doesn’t file a lawsuit), is having a heck of a day. She’s got to face the upcoming Friday night dining rush while short of bacon and pickles. Her employees don’t exactly own up to the problem, and to top it all off, she receives a call from “Officer Daniels” (Pat Healy). The officer says Sandra’s cashier, Becky (Dreama Walker) has stolen money from a customer’s purse. He offers Sandra and Becky a choice: Becky can wait to be turned over to the police and taken to jail, or Sandra can personally search her and attempt to recover the stolen money.
Compliance does a great job showcasing how different people react to the situation Officer Daniels presents to them. While none of the people stand up to the officer and question him, they do react in relatable ways. Some characters justify (Sandra), some resist/walk away (Kevin, the cook), some comply (Becky) and worst of all some use the officer’s authority to make their own rules (Van, Sandra’s “fiance”). These different points of view not only provide a relatable point of view for the audience to best associate with, it also creates a structure to allow the actions that happen in the back room of the restaurant to escalate to a criminal level.
While exploring the negligence of responsibility in the fast food restaurant, Compliance also provides a nice air of mystery around “Officer Daniels.” His motivation is unclear. He does not seek arousal with the intimate tasks he suggests. It does not appear that he is a horror movie villain watching his victims squirm. He goes about his day-to-day activities (like making a sandwich) while he is performing these experiments. He is just very good at coercing people to do what he wants. It’s almost like he is a sociologist studying the human condition. The ambiguity creates a dread around his words, but it also adds extra emphasis on the human emotions affected by his indifference to the people he is manipulating.
This is all well sold in the performances. At the top is Ann Dowd, who nails the simple-minded manager who’s in over her head. Her best asset is also her biggest liability: she is great at following orders. You can see the conflict and confusion in her face every time she has to do something she doesn’t agree with, but Dowd also shows how it doesn’t affect her when she is being a manager because she is free of responsibility. Dowd has played characters like this before on TV, and easily adapts to this role. Dreama Walker has the thankless task of playing the exploited Becky. Walker’s change from embarrassment to confusion to acceptance of her situation is carefully and slowly evolved throughout the movie, and Walker sells the change through her facial expressions. It’s heartbreaking to see her face become lifeless as the movie progresses. Pat Healy also provides nice nonchalance as the faux-officer.
The final 10 minutes of the movie provides an epilogue for the story, but it does not provide much of a sense of catharsis. Compliance takes all of the little compromises to authority figures (work, job, marriage) and shows what can happen if all these compromises align to create a dangerous situation that could be easily avoided. I now believe one of the most dangerous lines anyone can say is “I was just following orders.”