"Compound," a thriller that premiered at TIFF, uses security camera footage to chronicle the violent downfall of an off-the-grid family, reflecting contemporary American anxieties about surveillance and privacy. The film arrives at a particularly resonant moment, as Americans debate the ethics and effectiveness of Flock cameras being deployed in neighbourhoods nationwide, with concerns about increased government monitoring across the political spectrum. The story follows a paranoid former military veteran, Sarah Williams, who uses interconnected security cameras to monitor her remote Texas property, only for violence to erupt when the outside world encroaches on her isolated family's way of life.

Director and co-writer James Mulcahy developed an unconventional filming technique called "The Immersive World Approach," shooting the entire feature at a real Texas cabin using actual security cameras rigged across the property. The production involved placing six or seven cameras simultaneously around scenes, capturing multiple angles whilst actors maintained continuous character immersion, with the final film constructed from this multi-angle footage in post-production. Mulcahy collaborated with co-writer Max Perkins to employ this constraint-based creativity, noting that the unusual approach—including the logistical challenge of directing actors through walkie-talkies from a control room—ultimately forced more innovative practical filmmaking.