Denied a UK cinema release following its showing at LFF last year, John Patton Ford’s thrilling and timely debut is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Starring Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi, ‘Emily the Criminal’ takes no prisoners in its vivid depiction of the gig economy, and life on the fringes of American society.
Plaza is Emily, who we first meet in an excruciating job interview. It seems to be going well until the interviewer gets to her criminal record. A minor misdemeanour from her past that will stay on her record forever, and result in meaningful employment always being slightly out of her reach. She is saddled with student debt, and stuck in a crushing gig economy catering job which barely covers the interest on her loan. In what seems like a well worn routine, she storms out and tells the interviewer where to go.
When a co-worker hands her a phone number to earn a bit of extra cash, she takes the plunge and finds herself in the middle of a sophisticated credit card fraud run by Youcef (Rossi) and his cousin Khalil. She has a knack for the scam, and encourages Youcef to involve her in more lucrative, and dangerous jobs. He duly obliges.
There’s a confident and intelligent stylistic choice by the director not to trivialise Emily’s descent into a life of crime with fun montages and snazzy visuals. Ford instead keeps it grounded and terrifying, as it should be whilst we’re watching someone’s life spiral out of control. A car…
