''Compulsion'' is a 2013 Canadian

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

film directed by Egidio Coccimiglio and starring

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came with the teen comedy '' License to Drive'' (1988), followed by the critically acclaime ...

Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...

, and

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

. The movie is a remake of the South Korean film ''

301, 302 ''301, 302'' or ''301/302'' is a 1995 South Korean film directed by Park Chul-soo. It tells the story of two South Korean women, neighbors in the same apartment building, who take very different approaches to the difficulties of modern life; one ...

'' directed by

Park Chul-soo Park Chul-soo (November 20, 1948 – February 19, 2013) was a South Korean film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. He was one of the most active filmmakers in Korean cinema in the 1980s and '90s. Career Park Chul-soo wa ...

. It focuses on two women occupying neighboring apartments, each one grappling with psychological disorders that begin to overtake their lives. According to the film’s press release: "With images of sumptuous food and sensual enjoyment, the film explores the intimacy between the two through their connection with food, eating disorders and sex. In a battle of wills, one woman overflows with illusions and fearlessly faces life while the other withdraws from everything and fearlessly faces death." The movie opened for limited release on June 21, 2013.

Plot

Amy (

), an obsessive chef, befriends a bulimic former child star Saffron (

) living in the apartment next door, sparking a fiery battle of wills. Unstable Amy wields a spatula like a samurai, and dreams of the day she'll have her own cooking show. As a young girl, Amy was infatuated with a television show starring Saffron, who subsequently vanished into obscurity. The damaged daughter of a tyrannical stage mother, Saffron has struggled with an eating disorder ever since she was a little girl. Plagued by deep-rooted intimacy issues, she spends most of her time alone until the day she crosses paths with Amy. At first, Amy can't believe her luck at having her childhood idol living right next door, and at first the two women even sense an ethereal connection that bonds them. Later, as their true colors begin to emerge, both Amy and Saffron discover just how toxic their chemistry may be.

Cast

Production

Although the film takes place in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, principal photography took place in Sault Ste. Marie and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Reception

Charlie Schmidlin of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

stated "Sustaining a post-child-star career seems a difficult enough labyrinth to manage by itself, but combine that challenge with a bubbly, incessant neighbor intent on stardom, as a new film exploring the toll of celebrity aims to do, and you have an interesting dark vehicle for two talented actresses as a result." Chuck Wilson of the ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voic ...

'' commented "The game of wills ..between the two women isn't terribly interesting, much less suspenseful, and in fact, it's not clear that director Egidio Coccimiglio and screenwriter Floyd Byars ever settled on whether they were making a thriller or a satire about food and celebrity. The ever-vibrant Graham has fun with Amy's slyly embittered patter to her imaginary TV audience, while Moss valiantly commits herself to Saffron's psychological pain."

References

External links