Emily the Criminal, 2022.
Written and directed by John Patton Ford.
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, and Gina Gershon.
SYNOPSIS:
Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences.
12 years after his short film Patrol debuted at Sundance, writer-director John Patton Ford returned to the festival this year with his first feature. Backed by an enticingly against-type Aubrey Plaza, Emily the Criminal is an acidic takedown of cancerous capitalism and the economic deck that’s stacked so thoroughly against younger generations in particular.
Cash-strapped artist Emily (Plaza) works a menial food delivery gig while trying to secure herself a more fruitful job, yet due to her criminal record for assault, most well-paying employers won’t give her a second look.
And so, with $70,000 in student debt and an inability to pay off even the mounting interest, Emily desperately accepts a one-off gig as a “dummy shopper,” using a cloned credit card to purchase a TV for the guy running the job, Youcef (Theo Rossi). Youcef then promises Emily better-paying work to come, yet with greater reward also comes much greater risk.
Right from its deliciously intense opening scene, where Emily flips out at a potential employer sneakily inquiring about her criminal history, it’s clear that Ford’s film has a deep well of compassion for…
