Rent Compliance (2012)

Compliance review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso

Based on a spate of prank calls that ran across the United States Compliance is a thriller/drama about a fast food restaurant manager who, upon receiving a phone call from a man identifying himself as a police officer, begins to interrogate one of her employees.

Posing the classic “what would you do” question film maker Craig Zobel uses Compliance as a vessel to explore human nature and creditability, both of which are pushed to their limits here. Thankfully the performances allow for the stretching and reshaping of all sides of humanity, the tone and execution of the film however leave the realism and sense of audience belief considerably lacking however.

Sandra (Ann Dowd) is a typical manageress, stressed and exhausted by working the Friday night shift at a fast food restaurant; the busiest night of the week, with the food standards people supposedly making an appearance and someone has left the freezer door open – as if Sandra doesn’t have enough on her plate. When she receives a phone call from a disembodied voice identifying himself as Officer Daniels however things take a far darker turn. One of her employees, the shapely Becky (Dreama Walker) has been accused of theft by a customer who has reported it to the police, under Daniel’s instruction Sandra begins to interrogate and strip search Becky, whilst the rest of her staff and her fiancée Van (Bill Camp) are asked to assist.

Dowd’s performance ensures that Sandra’s actions are both understandable and recognizable, the script, camera and overall atmosphere of the film negates all of Dowd’s hard work however as the fear and suspense we so expect is traded in for cheap shots of nudity and a rather bland atmosphere. By the time the entire face of our mystery call is unveiled the audience is likely to have lost too much interest to care