Compliance 2012

Sandra, the manager of a fast-food restaurant within the ChickWich chain, receives an unexpected phone call from a prankster who claims to be Officer Daniels. This supposed officer states that he has been in contact with the regional manager, alleging that a complaint has been made regarding the theft of money from a customer’s purse during the day. With urgency in his voice, Daniels informs Sandra that he is preoccupied with the investigation at the suspected thief’s home and insists that she must detain and interrogate the staff member implicated in the theft. Deciding to comply, Sandra calls upon Becky, the employee that the caller describes.

Despite Becky adamantly denying any wrongdoing, she goes along with Sandra and Daniels’ requests as she is led into the back office of the restaurant. The caller, still on the line, begins to ask a disturbing series of questions and directs Sandra to search Becky’s pockets and purse for the supposedly stolen cash. When this yields no results, Daniels escalates the situation by ordering a strip search, insisting that failure to comply would result in Becky facing jail time while the investigation continues at her brother’s home. Alone in the office with the caller, Becky is further threatened with the implication that her brother could also be implicated if she doesn’t cooperate.

After complying to an unthinkable level of humiliation, Becky finds herself in only an apron. Daniels instructs Sandra to bag her clothing for later inspection, claiming that items may hold evidence of other incriminating material. Faced with the chaos of the restaurant’s busy operations, Sandra pleads with Daniels to allow her to manage her responsibilities while he insists Becky must remain under supervision. Initially, she turns to Kevin for help, but he vehemently refuses to obey the caller’s absurd directives. Ultimately, Sandra brings in her fiancé, Van, to monitor Becky.

As the tension escalates, Daniels concocts even more degrading requests, demanding Becky remove her apron and perform jumping jacks in the nude under the guise of searching for concealed contraband. In a desperate bid for help, Becky tries to reach out to Sandra, only to face further punishment for what the caller deem as a “disobedient” plea, which includes humiliating directives directed by Daniels that only deepen the torment.

Realizing the appalling nature of the prank, the custodian, Harold, is brought in and reacts with outrage upon hearing the caller’s orders. This leads Sandra to suspect something is very wrong, prompting her to contact the regional manager for confirmation. As she pieces together the truth, authorities are eventually notified, and they arrive just in time to investigate the scene for evidence and escort Becky away.

Afterward, a detective tracks down the prank caller, who turns out to be a telemarketer and family man involved in a shocking pattern of deceitful calls to various establishments. In the aftermath, Becky contemplates a civil suit against Sandra but her legal counsel advises her to target the larger ChickWich corporation. Meanwhile, Sandra finds herself unemployed and grappling with the fallout from the horrific incident, leading her to end her engagement with Van. Ultimately, she emerges from the experience to face a journalist, though she finds herself unable to answer fully due to her lawyer’s presence. The film concludes with a somber statistic revealing that over 70 similar incidents have taken place across 30 U.S. states.