Compliance (2012)

This film does so much with real life events and yet also says something new about psychological horror, thrillers, and independent films. This is inspired by the true events surrounding a crank caller, which led to many sexual assaults and some confused restaurant employees and their managers. This film takes place in one particular franchise where the Friday rush is proving to be difficult for an overwhelmed manager trying to deal with so many things at once. Suddenly a phone call comes in from a police officer, who tells the manager that one of her employees has been suspected of stealing a customer's money out of her purse, and the manager needs to keep the employee in the back room until they can arrive from her house where they have found drugs and other paraphernalia. The office says all this with an authority and curtness that leads the manager to believe his every word, and he is so empathetic and persuasive as well that she takes it all in stride. The restaurant continues to hum, but the sick perversion of the caller continually leads to the debasement of the worker who hasn't done anything wrong. The film is a study into the psychological process that a person can use with authority of the law to screw with people without them seriously considering the logic behind these commands. Everyone seems to blindly obey this faceless man although there is no reason to, especially legally. Of course several employees do question the validity of the line of questioning, but when it comes down to it, the questioning is often met with an argument from the officer and they are reprimanded by the manager. It comes to pass that this girl, who is holed up in the back of the restaurant, not given any rights, stripped, and made to comply with the demands of a voice without identification, is hurt. This film does well at not exploiting the situation or the true victim of these events, and opens up a dialogue about what you would do in the same situation. The way it wraps itself up and distinguishes it as something that really happens was also very well done, and this film does so much for how truly small it is, which is just so impressive.