Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: John Patton Ford
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon, Jonathan Avigdori
Aubrey Plaza delivers a to-date career defining performance in
writer/director John Patton Ford's feature debut
Emily the Criminal. Approaching 40, Plaza still finds herself cast as women in their
mid-twenties and is still thoroughly convincing as such. We never once
question whether she's too old to be playing the recent college graduate
Emily, and any world weariness Plaza might bring fits right in with a
character struggling just to survive.
Having studied Graphic Design, Emily now finds herself straddled with
college debt to the tune of $70,000. Her job as a delivery driver for a
busy Los Angeles restaurant is barely covering the interest on her loan.
Any attempts at career advancement are stunted by a charge of aggravated
assault on her criminal record. When a co-worker gives her a phone
number and tells her she can make $200 in an hour, Emily is
understandably intrigued.
Calling the number, Emily is directed to a warehouse in the suburbs. It
looks suspiciously like the set of a porn movie, so she grips her pepper
spray tightly. Turns out Emily really can make $200 in an hour though,
as she's stumbled upon a major credit card fraud operation run by
Lebanese cousins Youcef (Theo Rossi) and Khalil (Jonathan Avigdori), who operate a sort of good criminal/bad criminal dynamic towards
their employees. Emily is tasked with purchasing a big screen TV on a
cloned credit card and returning it to the warehouse, where she is
promptly given $200 in cash. When Youcef tells her she can make $2,000
for something a little more dangerous, Emily can't resist.
Classic films noir often feature the figure of the femme fatale, the
dangerously seductive woman who causes a world of hurt for the male
protagonist. We usually meet them fully formed, having gone through some
off screen ordeal that turned them into a cold-hearted sociopath.
Emily the Criminal plays like the origin story of a
classic femme fatale, and whenever they get around to making the
inevitable gritty Catwoman reboot, you could imagine her arc being
similar to that of Emily's. By the final act of the movie, Emily is a
full-blown femme fatale, and she's seduced Youcef into entering her web.
The poor sucker can't resist her charm and teaches her the tricks of his
dubious profession. Emily proves herself more capable than Youcef
himself, and quickly grows a thick skin when she realises the sort of
dangers a life of crime brings. The script asks us to buy this
transformation a little too quickly (it's a rare movie that feels 30
minutes too short), but Plaza manages to convince as both the naïve waif
we meet at the beginning of the movie and the violent sociopath she
ultimately becomes.
There's a popular debate online regarding whether movies should portray
bad behaviour. Of course they should, and let's face it, one of the
great thrills of cinema is being able to live a vicarious life of crime.
Who among us hasn't fantasised about quitting a soul destroying 9 to 5
job for a life of "easy money." With his debut, Ford taps into the
stress and frustration of a generation that increasingly seems denied
the certainties granted their parents. At times this is portrayed a
little crudely, like Emily's on-the-nose interview for a position that
turns out to be an unpaid internship, but it's tapping into a very real
phenomena with plenty of stories similar to Emily's to be found in real
life as college graduates take desperate measures to prevent themselves
drowning in debt. A significant portion of the audience for
Emily the Criminal will be rooting for the titular
anti-hero all the way.
Emily the Criminal is on Netflix UK/ROI now.