IMDb RATING
4.4/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
The lives of two female neighbors intersect when their individual obsessions begin to unravel.The lives of two female neighbors intersect when their individual obsessions begin to unravel.The lives of two female neighbors intersect when their individual obsessions begin to unravel.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 5 wins total
Catherine Fitch
- Crazed Fan
- (voice)
Keith Bowser
- Partygoer (flashback scene)
- (uncredited)
Hannah Brigden
- Young Amy
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
An enjoyable little film full of the kind of intense and intimate relationships that you normally only find on a stage. Hopefully that will be enough to set the scene as Compulsion is not really a film, its a theater production put on to film.
Compulsion is two stories that unravel and then combine to become one as you really only get the second story after being fully immersed in the fervor and passion of Amy (Heather Graham). Heather Graham appears to have added more a little Nigella Lawson (Youtube her) to her depiction of a voluptuous gastronome desperately seeking acknowledgement and love.
So too does the other leading character Saffron bring a fine set of hang ups and issues played by Carrie Anne Moss.
Both lead actresses set the movie apart from ennui with excellent portrayals of their characters and through their selling of the story. They also looks fantastic (which can't be bad!).
If you take the movie for the play that it is, rather than the blockbuster you might be hoping for, then you should get on fine.
Compulsion is two stories that unravel and then combine to become one as you really only get the second story after being fully immersed in the fervor and passion of Amy (Heather Graham). Heather Graham appears to have added more a little Nigella Lawson (Youtube her) to her depiction of a voluptuous gastronome desperately seeking acknowledgement and love.
So too does the other leading character Saffron bring a fine set of hang ups and issues played by Carrie Anne Moss.
Both lead actresses set the movie apart from ennui with excellent portrayals of their characters and through their selling of the story. They also looks fantastic (which can't be bad!).
If you take the movie for the play that it is, rather than the blockbuster you might be hoping for, then you should get on fine.
The story of two disturbed women whose lives end up intertwining. Or to be precise, one obsessive and possibly delusional woman and another who simply has had a hard life. When the psychotic of the two, Amy, develops a fascination with her reclusive neighbour, Saffron, she shows it through trying to push her love of food on to her. What follows is a rather bizarre but intriguing series of events.
A great aspect of this film is that I believe it's open to interpretation. Amy clearly doesn't have the tightest grip on reality, in fact we are often shown glimpses into her head where an imaginary audience is cheering her on. Combine this with the plot and characters going in the strangest of directions and the sceptical comments of a particular other character and the film raises the question of how much of it is in Amy's head and how much of it is simply events going in such a unique way.
Admittedly, this film is probably a bit of an acquired taste(ha, get it). It's labelled a thriller, which is partly true but the vast majority of it is a character study. If you like analysing the mindsets of flawed characters, this film is for you. Worth re-watching if you want to look at things from a different angle.
A great aspect of this film is that I believe it's open to interpretation. Amy clearly doesn't have the tightest grip on reality, in fact we are often shown glimpses into her head where an imaginary audience is cheering her on. Combine this with the plot and characters going in the strangest of directions and the sceptical comments of a particular other character and the film raises the question of how much of it is in Amy's head and how much of it is simply events going in such a unique way.
Admittedly, this film is probably a bit of an acquired taste(ha, get it). It's labelled a thriller, which is partly true but the vast majority of it is a character study. If you like analysing the mindsets of flawed characters, this film is for you. Worth re-watching if you want to look at things from a different angle.
First of all, let me just start out by saying that this movie is slow, unbelievably slow. And the 88 minutes that the movie ran for seemed much, much longer.
The story told in "Compulsion" had its moments, but it was overall weighed down by things taking too long. There were so many scenes that just dragged on for way too long, where the movie would have benefited from a trim and a notch up in pace.
"Compulsion" is about Amy (played by Heather Graham) who is obsessed about gourmet cooking and dreaming about getting her own cooking show on TV. All she cares about is her cooking and her food, desperately seeking approval in her cooking from her boyfriend/husband (?) Fred (played by Kevin Dillon). However, her compulsive obsession drives him away, and instead she starts to cook for her reclusive neighbor Saffron (played by Carrie-Anne Moss).
It should be said that the people in the movie were doing good jobs in acting, however, the characters were really odd. And I personally didn't really find much enjoyment in these characters, because they were all a bit too eccentric and out there. But thumbs up to the actors and actresses, because they did good jobs.
This slow paced thriller might not be suitable for just anyone, and I was tempted to get up and find something else to watch a couple of times throughout the 88 (long) minutes. But I stuck with it to the end, hoping that there might just be a change for the better just around the corner. But that was not to be...
I am rating "Compulsion" a mere 3 out of 10 stars, simply because the actors and actresses held the movie afloat, the rest of the movie - especially the storyline itself - was just downright boring and tedious.
The story told in "Compulsion" had its moments, but it was overall weighed down by things taking too long. There were so many scenes that just dragged on for way too long, where the movie would have benefited from a trim and a notch up in pace.
"Compulsion" is about Amy (played by Heather Graham) who is obsessed about gourmet cooking and dreaming about getting her own cooking show on TV. All she cares about is her cooking and her food, desperately seeking approval in her cooking from her boyfriend/husband (?) Fred (played by Kevin Dillon). However, her compulsive obsession drives him away, and instead she starts to cook for her reclusive neighbor Saffron (played by Carrie-Anne Moss).
It should be said that the people in the movie were doing good jobs in acting, however, the characters were really odd. And I personally didn't really find much enjoyment in these characters, because they were all a bit too eccentric and out there. But thumbs up to the actors and actresses, because they did good jobs.
This slow paced thriller might not be suitable for just anyone, and I was tempted to get up and find something else to watch a couple of times throughout the 88 (long) minutes. But I stuck with it to the end, hoping that there might just be a change for the better just around the corner. But that was not to be...
I am rating "Compulsion" a mere 3 out of 10 stars, simply because the actors and actresses held the movie afloat, the rest of the movie - especially the storyline itself - was just downright boring and tedious.
This movie will probably stay with me for a while. Heather Grahm was beautiful in the movie and really made me feel for her characters. I was dreading that the movie was going to turn into a predictable girl gone crazy movie because I really like the characters of Amy. Luckily this film had more depth. One of the most disturbing things about the film is the cards that Amy is dealt in her life. I may be a bit biased because I'm a huge foodie like the characters so I really enjoyed that aspect of it as well.. The one thing I will say is this movie may not be for everyone. Hardcore horror fans may not appreciate the slow paced drama but at the same time drama lovers may not appreciate the macabre aspect of the film. I won't say much more but if you like simple yet disturbing movies is recommend this one
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I was exhausted from work and felt like watching a predictable horror movie. This is not at all a thriller or a horror movie. It is actually an interesting buddy film between two damaged women who crave what they can't have--love. One tries to find fulfillment through cooking and baking and serving gourmet meals, compulsively nurturing, and another who is desperate for a nurturer, a bulimic who is unable to eat. It is visually very interesting. Amy (Heather Graham, whom I thought was fantastic)and her TV dreams are reminiscent of Nicole Kidman and TO DIE FOR; the bright colors of her dress against the sterile white fake TV set contrast with dark, dreary tones of her idol and then friend Saffron (Moss). I really enjoyed the lush, gorgeous meals Amy created, at first trying to woo Saffron as a friend and then, sensing Saffron's despondency and loneliness much like her own, attempting to sustain her through food and create some kind of sensuous joy for her. The ending makes this a black comedy, if one needs to label it. The writing is clunky and personally I would have enjoyed seeing a couple more scenes showing development of this friendship but filling in the blanks is fun, too.
Did you know
- TriviaHeather Graham gained over 10 pounds and wore foam padding underneath her dresses and clothing throughout the film to give her a slightly overweight appearance due to her character's obsession with cooking and eating. As a result, she is never seen fully undressed, especially during her lovemaking scenes.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Film Junk Podcast: Episode 617: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
- How long is Compulsion?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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