Mark Reviews Movies: EMILY THE CRIMINAL

Emily the Criminal, Roadside Attractions/Vertical Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 11, 2022

Emily (Aubrey Plaza) doesn't even have a chance—at getting a well-paying job, at finding the means to pay down her student loan debt, at moving into a place to call her own, at making the time to finish her degree, at even having the opportunity to figure out who she really is and what she really wants to do with her life. That's the conundrum of the protagonist in writer/director John Patton Ford's feature debut Emily the Criminal. The filmmaker grounds this tale of a woman's downfall into a life of illegal and increasingly dangerous behavior in such realistic—and unfortunately common—socioeconomic hardships that the story starts to cease seeming like a downfall. It's more a necessity.

That gives this somewhat formulaic, familiar, and predictable story some vital bite. We don't have to like what Emily does, and indeed, Ford—wisely, in the long run—deflects from the potential consequences of Emily's actions on other people who might be in a similar situation as she is—or maybe a worse one, for that matter.

The criminal operation she becomes involved in is acting as "dummy shopper." These are people who take stolen credit card accounts, buy something of value from a store with that information, and hand off the equally stolen goods to their handler, who sells the ill-gotten merchandise on the black market for pure profit.

There are people on the other end of those card numbers, and while some of them have the benefit of whatever financial comfort has let them have a limitless credit account, surely some of those stolen cards could be traced back to someone who's paying off a student loan debt, covering medical bills, or making sure their kids have food on the table. If we take even a moment to consider those people, the bigger picture of the economic crisis at the core of this story becomes more insidious. If we actually live in a dog-eat-dog world, that makes us animals at best—and meals at worst.

This story is about Emily, though, whom we first meet at a job interview that seems to be going well—until her prospective employer asks Emily about her criminal background. Ford keeps the camera on Emily during this line questioning, and as it becomes clear that the interviewer is playing a game with her and that her criminal record has more than an ultimately harmless DUI on it, we get to admire how well Plaza handles the subtle shifts in Emily's personality.

It's a pattern that becomes the standard for the character as her trip into the underworld of dummy shopping, credit card fraud, and worse progresses. She's filled with some kind of hope, only for the hurt of the harsh reality of her past, as well as the knowledge of how people judge her, to transform into anger bordering on rage. We eventually get some details of the story of Emily's conviction for an aggravated assault, but it's that moment of obvious pain—between the optimism of thinking things could be different and the fury that, no, they're just going to stay the same—that keeps us both fascinated by Emily and, to some degree, on her side.

She works as an independent contractor for a catering company at the moment, but at one time, Emily was going to college for an art degree, showed a lot of talent in her craft, and probably could have ended up at a prestigious design firm like her long-time friend Liz (Megalyn Echikunwoke). Instead, she was arrested for, charged with, and convicted of assault, and now, even Liz can't or won't put in a good word for her friend for a job.

Through a co-worker, Emily gets in contact with Youcef (Theo Rossi), who handles the credit card fraud operation and promises a couple hundred—and, later, a couple thousand—dollars for an hour's worth of work. With the interest on her debt keeping Emily from making a dent in it, she takes one job, then another, and then the opportunity to become more involved in the criminal ring. Soon enough, she's making fake credit cards with stolen information, buying stuff with them, and selling those stolen goods for a bigger cut of Youcef's profits. His business partner Khalil (Jonathan Avigdori) doesn't trust Emily, though, and that sets some conflict and a dangerous plan in motion.

None of this is particularly unique, from the move toward that internal conflict (leading to an admittedly suspenseful climactic sequence) to the romance that develops between Emily and Youcef. That's beside the point.

Ford's screenplay is far more interested in the character of Emily—how she reacts to pressure and increasing risk of these crimes, as well as how those reactions either trace her evolution into a criminal mastermind of sorts or just put her personality and potential into that context—and the very real circumstances that back her into this corner than the routine plotting. The plot does offer some intense scenes, such as a car chase after an attempt goes wrong and an attempted robbery by a shady buyer, but there's just as much tension in a pair of interviews (the opening and one with an oblivious CEO played by Gina Gershon) and the constant reminders of how trapped Emily is by her financial and employment problems.

Emily the Criminal functions as a thriller. At its heart, though, the film is a harsh study of a character brought to and then breaking her limits, and the harsh reality of the modern economy is the cold blood pumping through it.

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