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Compliance poster

Movies that feel likeCompliance (2012)

On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food restaurant, manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee has stolen money from a customer.

If you loved Compliance, the closest films we have are The Guilty (2021), The Chaser (2008) and Berberian Sound Studio (2012). All three share Compliance's tense and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is La Llorona (2019).

πŸ… 89% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Craig Zobelcontemplativetenseunsettling
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Peacock Premium

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If Compliance hit the spot, these will too

The Guilty poster
The Guilty
2021 Β· dir. Antoine Fuqua
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.3drama Β· thrillerNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: psychological thriller and police officer

A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.

The Chaser poster
The Chaser
2008 Β· dir. Na Hong-jin
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.8crime Β· thriller Β· action

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Compliance does

Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.

Berberian Sound Studio poster
Berberian Sound Studio
2012 Β· dir. Peter Strickland
πŸ… 85%β˜… 6.2horror Β· drama Β· thriller

The same mix in both: stillness, then tension

The difference: Leans harder into horror than Compliance does

In the 1970s, a British sound technician is brought to Italy to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film. His nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche, driving him to confront his own past.

The Gift poster
The Gift
2015 Β· dir. Joel Edgerton
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Common ground: psychological thriller

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Compliance does

Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.

Hannibal poster
Hannibal
2001 Β· dir. Ridley Scott
πŸ… 39%β˜… 6.8crime Β· drama Β· thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Unsettling drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

Panic Room poster
Panic Room
2002 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 76%β˜… 6.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Thriller with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

Verity poster
Verity
2026 Β· dir. Michael Showalter
β˜… 6.3mystery Β· thrillerRent or buy

Tense thriller in both cases

The difference: Trades the stillness of Compliance for an angle of its own

Lowen Ashleigh, hired to ghostwrite for best-selling author Verity Crawford, uncovers Verity's autobiographical notes, and becomes involved in what may prove to be a lethal conspiracy.

The Call poster
The Call
2013 Β· dir. Brad Anderson
πŸ… 43%β˜… 6.7crime Β· thrillerStarz

Both lean on unease more than on drama

Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

Lake Mungo poster
Lake Mungo
2009 Β· dir. Joel Anderson
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.2horror Β· thriller

Thriller built on tension, twice over

After 16-year-old Alice Palmer drowns at a local dam, her family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of a psychic and parapsychologist, who discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. At Lake Mungo, Alice's secret past emerges.

La Llorona poster
La Llorona
2019 Β· dir. Jayro Bustamante
πŸ… 96%β˜… 6.6thriller Β· horror Β· dramaRent or buy

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Accused of the genocide of Mayan people, retired general Enrique is trapped in his mansion by massive protests. Abandoned by his staff, the indignant old man and his family must face the devastating truth of his actions and the growing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes.

Speak No Evil poster
Speak No Evil
2022 Β· dir. Christian Tafdrup
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.7horror Β· thriller Β· dramaRent or buy

The same preoccupation in both: disturbed

A Danish family visits a Dutch family they met on a holiday. What was supposed to be an idyllic weekend slowly starts unraveling as the Danes try to stay polite in the face of unpleasantness.

What We Become poster
What We Become
2015 Β· dir. Bo Mikkelsen
β˜… 5.5horror Β· thriller

A streak of unease through both

A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Compliance’s defining feeling.