Knowing that the new film Compliance is based on a true story may just amplify the shock of its premise: A young fast-food employee was stripped, abused, and psychologically tortured by her manager simply because a man posing as a cop called the restaurant and ordered the manager to do what he said. How could anyone fall for a ruse that simple, you may wonder, and does it reveal something unsettling about people’s willingness to follow orders? Maybe there’s something to be gleaned in this exclusive clip, where manager Sandra (Ann Dowd) looks on as her employee Becky (Don’t Trust the B’s Dreama Walker) is accused of theft by the unseen mastermind giving out orders by phone. Becky’s done nothing wrong, but even she starts to obey when the so-called cop starts asserting himself.
Compliance comes out August 17 in New York and August 24 in Los Angeles before its national roll-out.