2012

Director: Craig Zobel

Genre: Drama

Once, during a cross country road trip from California to New York, I was stopped by a Police Officer. I wasn't speeding, or doing anything illegal, but I saw the flashing lights appear behind me and pulled over to the side of the road. 

There, the officer asked me all the generic questions, and then eventually asked me to join him in his car. I went along with this and it became very clear that I was stopped under suspicion of transporting drugs. I remember feeling extremely uncomfortable sitting in this police car, even though I had nothing to hide and this was all nonsense. I let the officer search the trunk of my car. He found nothing and let me go with a warning. 

It's scary to be interrogated by a police officer if it's not something you're used to. You have no power in this situation, and if you weren't doing anything illegal you may start to question the morals of this officer. How are you to know this isn't a real police officer and is just someone wearing a uniform? 

The story in Compliance is much worse and should not be compared to my example. However, the set-up is relatively similar. Someone is using a position to power to get someone else to comply to his demands.

This film made me feel sick and disgusted with humanity. I feel like that’s exactly the reaction the filmmakers were going for. I was genuinely shocked that this was inspired by actual events and I suggest you read this wikipedia entry to get a clear picture of what I'm talking about. I usually stay away from films that claim to be inspired by true events, but Compliance didn't advertise that fact until the end of the film.

This film offers you a glimpse of two of the worst types of people in this world: those who abuse a self-appointed position of power, and those who ignore horrific events and never take responsibility. The man who impersonates the police officer and calls the restaurant is an example of the first type. The manager and her husband are examples of the second type. 

I'd like to think that if I was witnessing a similar scenario to the one presented in the film, I would react in a better way than the characters. But at the same time I think back to those road trips, and remember that feeling of fear that makes you become unreasonably agreeable. 

Unfortunately, the default reaction of most of humanity is compliance.

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