Need a surefire way to get people interested in your movie? Tell them that, at one point or another, one or more of the film’s actresses gets naked. As lowbrow and sad as such a publicity hook may be, it’s damn near foolproof. For instance, the majority of dudes who’ve found the time to watch Sam Raimi’s oft-forgotten 2000 thriller The Gift likely did so only because they’d heard about Katie Holmes’ topless scene. Same goes for the amount of folks who braved the otherwise idiotic Swordfish just to check out Halle Berry’s twins.
Viewing the disturbing new indie flick Compliance (opening in limited release tomorrow), however, we were struck by how unnerving it is to watch beautiful star Dreama Walker take her clothes off. Based on various real-life incidents, writer-director Craig Zobel’s fascinating and subdued thriller shows the fallout (i.e., humiliation, sexual desecration, and moral bankruptcy) that results from a prankster (Pat Healy) calling a fast food joint, saying he’s a police officer, and instructing the eatery’s manager (Ann Dowd) to strip-search an employee (Walker) accused of robbery.
The situation gradually worsens, and Walker’s naked, helplessly vulnerable character gets put through the ringer. And there’s nothing sexy about it, much like the rest of the films included in our countdown of The 15 Most Uncomfortable Moments of Female Nudity in Movies.
Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)
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