Buried in my viewing notes from Craig Zobel’s Sundance premiere, Compliance, is a one-line note from a fellow journalist. Scrawled out, almost angrily, it reads “no one is this stupid!!!” Oh, but they are.
Zobel’s film was one of the most controversial of the festival ‐ subject to walk-outs and heated Q&A sessions ‐ but it was also one of the absolute best productions unveiled in Park City this past January. The film is based on a true story (no matter how confounding and bizarre that story may be) and one that Zobel distills down into one singular event. Compliance centers on fast food worker Becky (Dreama Walker) and her generally nice (if a bit of overbearing) boss Sandra (Ann Dowd). On a day like any other, Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer who says he’s working on a case that involves Becky, and would Sandra be so kind as to help him detain Becky until he can get there? And could she possibly search Becky? And she possibly help him out with a full strip search of Becky? And…well, you get the idea. Compliance is as uncomfortable and riveting as cinema gets, and so is its first trailer.
Get ready to get uncomfortable, and check out the first trailer for Compliance after the break.
Compliance opens in limited release and on VOD on August 17th.[Apple, via FirstShowing]
Related Topics: Sundance
