COMPLIANCE MOVIE Cast[edit] Ann Dowd as Sandra Dreama Walker as Becky Pat Healy as Officer Daniels Bill Camp

amp as Van Philip Ettinger as Kevin James McCaffrey as Detective Neals Ashlie Atkinson as Marti Sandra, a manager of a fast-food restaurant in the ChickWich chain, receives a phone call from a prank caller referring to himself as Officer Daniels. Claiming to have spoken with the regional manager, he states that the police received a complaint that an employee of the restaurant had stolen money from a customers purse that day. Daniels explains that he is preoccupied with the search of the suspected thiefs home and that Sandra would have to detain and question the staff member about the theft. With Daniels on the phone, Sandra agrees to help and summons Becky, who fits the callers description of the perpetrator. Becky denies committing any theft, but complies with Sandra and Daniels when she is escorted into an office in the rear of the restaurant. The caller asks a series of questions and instructs Sandra to search Becky's pockets and purse for the stolen cash. When the money is not found, Daniels then orders Sandra to conduct a strip search, claiming that the alternative would be Becky going to jail while the larger investigation at Becky's home is being undertaken. When Becky is alone, the caller implies that her brother could also face separate charges if Becky does not comply calmly with the strip search. After she has stripped, the humiliated Becky is covered only by an apron. Daniels tells Sandra to put the clothing into a bag and take it to her car for later inspection by the police. He initially claims that clothes can sometimes have imperceptible pockets, but when Sandra is perplexed by his order, he states that the larger investigation involves possession of marijuana, and that the clothing may contain faint traces of it which would aid the case. Sandra explains to Daniels that she must resume managing the restaurant during the busy work day, and the caller instructs her to leave Becky under the watch of a male employee for security reasons. Sandra enlists Kevin for the task, but he protests the caller's orders to inspect Becky and refuses to be involved. Eventually Sandra brings in her fianc Van to watch over Becky. Through Daniels' demands, Becky is ordered to remove the apron and perform jumping jacks nude for Van, under the pretense that contraband may be concealed in her body. When Sandra briefly visits the room, Becky attempts to plead with her about the ordeal. As punishment for this "disobedient" plea, the caller orders Becky to subject to a spanking by Van and to perform oral sex on him. After Van leaves with guilt, Daniels asks for another male

to take his place. The custodian Harold is called in and is outraged by the caller's orders. When Harold tells Sandra the caller's intentions, she phones the regional manager and realizes that Daniels' call is a scam. The police eventually arrive and escort Becky out and investigate for evidence. A detective from another location eventually arrests the caller at his office after similar incidents are reported from the same man, who is revealed to be a telemarketer and a family man. Becky wants to file a civil suit against Sandra, but her lawyer suggests an option to sue the national corporation of ChickWich. Sandra, who is now unemployed, ends her engagement with Van after the incident and is later interviewed by a journalist on the incident, but does not answer all questions because her lawyer is present. The film ends with a message stating over 70 similar incidents occurred in 30 U.S. states.

In the case of "Compliance," the walk-outs aren't because it's a bad movie, but because it's all too effective at exposing the human tendency to cave in to authority. As the film opens, Sandra (Ann Dowd), the restaurant's manager, is already feeling guilty. An employee left a freezer open and $15,000 in food was spoiled. Almost as bad, somebody didn't order more pickles and bacon, and the district supervisor is scheduled to make an inspection visit. For Sandra, this is a perfect storm. The phone rings. She's told she's speaking to a policeman. Officer Daniels (Pat Healy) asks if Sandra has a young blond woman working up front. She does: Becky (Dreama Walker). The cop then tells Sandra a woman in the police station is complaining that Becky stole something from her purse while it was on the counter, and he can see her doing it on a security tape. Does this ring any bells for you? Of course it does and all sorts of logical questions. Not for Sandra. She's asked to take Becky into a private employees' area and search her clothing and possessions. Slowly, step by step, the telephone requests escalate, until she is stripsearching Becky. At a fairly early point, director Craig Zobel chooses to reveal that "Officer Daniels" is not a real cop at all (no kidding), but an ordinary guy, flat-voiced, soft-spoken, who's building himself a sandwich in his kitchen. There is no suggestion that he's sexually aroused. He isn't a breather. He walks outside to have a cigarette; reluctant to smoke in the house? His voice is insistent. He creates a scenario in which his fellow cops and the "victim" are searching her house to see if she left the money at home. His description of this search demonstrates how radio drama can be more absorbing than television drama, because we visualize events in our minds that are more real than any film or video could possibly be.

This film is based on an actual 2004 event that took place at a McDonald's in Mount Washington, Ky. Google it and you'll find most of the same details. If you're not one of the film's walk-outs, you'll discover at the end that 70 similar deceptions have occurred in the United States. We're reminded of the famous 1960s studies by the behavioral scientist Stanley Milgram, who told subjects they were in control of a dial that administered electrical shocks to a person in the next room. As he ordered them to turn the dial higher and higher, they obeyed, even though they could hear screams and pleading through the wall. Milgram, with his white laboratory coat, stethoscope and clipboard, represented authority, and a majority of his test subjects were willing to turn their dials even up into a red "danger" area. What did that prove? Debates are still under way. What did the fast-food strip searches prove? You tell me. If the stunt worked 70 times, they must prove something perhaps that we are afraid of authority. I know that when a traffic cop pulls me over, I'm frightened scared enough that I drive safely and am almost never pulled over. But we would never fall for a deception like the one in "Compliance," would we? We wouldn't follow the instructions, as Sandra does, or allow her to, as Becky does. We might be more like Kevin (Philip Ettinger), another employee, who finds there are some things he will not do to a co-worker. This is a well-made film, with plausible performances by all the leads, especially Ann Dowd. We feel we know people like this. There is the uncomfortable realization that if a TSA agent wanted to strip-search us at an airport, we might agree. Or would we? Would you? Why have some audience members walked out? Are they angry at "Officer Daniels," or Sandra, or that they were briefly taken in? You tell me.