COMPLIANCE
This falls most shocking, controversial, and uncomfortable films is coming to the Cosford! But don't be scared, COMPLIANCE must be seen and is already generating dark horse award buzz for the season. Inspired by true events, COMPLIANCE tells the chilling story of just how far one might go to obey a figure of authority. What develops is a disturbing examination of law and ethics.
"BRILLIANT. The movie is driven by an urgent moral inquiry, yet it has the mesmerizing detail and humor of a very idiosyncratic fiction."
-David Denby, NEW YORKER
"A suspenseful psychological drama, eerily attuned to current cultural issues."
-Justin Lowe, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"In taut, gripping and deeply disturbing fashion, writer-director Craig Zobel measures the depths to which rational individuals will sink to obey a self-anoited authority figure in COMPLIANCE."
-Justin Chang, VARIETY
On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food joint, high-strung manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee, a pretty young blonde named Becky has stolen money from a customer. Convinced she's only doing what's right, Sandra commences the investigation, following step-by-step instructions from the officer at the other end of the line, no matter how invasive they become. As we watch, we ask ourselves two questions: Why don't they say just say no? and the more troubling, Am I certain I wouldn't do the same? 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.
Directed by Craig Zobel. Rated R.
USA, 2012, Digital Projection, 90minutes, Color, English.