Well, it’s been a while. Truth is, I have to work way too much. I work weird hours that often make it difficult to watch a huge amount of movies. Aside from that, sometimes when I finally get a couple of hours to sit down, it’s easier for me to watch old episodes of Survivor than it is for me to drag myself to the cinema. Why do I even have an Odeon Limitless membership at this point? It’s a good question. So yeah, that’s why I’ve not been around too much, I guess.
It’s a shame, really, because watching movies and writing about them is what I enjoy doing… especially more than my actual job. So sitting down to watch Emily the Criminal on one of my days off was actually a pleasure, even before I pressed play.
The film stars Aubrey Plaza of Parks & Recreation fame in a role that is completely outside of what you’d be used to seeing her in. It all centres around Emily (obviously), who is tied down with student debt and is struggling to get a decent job since she was involved in a misdemeanour in college. To combat everything that’s going on in her life, she becomes involved in a credit card scam in order to earn some quick money. Everything spirals out of control however when she ultimately ends up being pulled into the world of Los Angeles’ criminal underworld.
Emily the Criminal has one overarching theme: don’t hate the player, hate the game. And it is actually pleasingly successful at pushing that idea on the audience – you’ll know in your heart that what our protagonist is doing is wrong, yet you’ll want her to succeed when all is said and done. Think of her as an anti-hero, but much more relatable than that of Joker.
I’ll be honest, I’m kind of obsessed with Aubrey Plaza doing these more serious dramatic roles. She leads this movie so confidently and convincingly, yet manages to maintain some of the Evil Hag we know and love with her delivery and dead pan humour. Though there are certainly other positives here, she is without doubt the biggest one. Notice that every screen grab in this post is simply a photo of Plaza existing; that’s because she’s the star of the show.
Put simply, it’s nice to see a recent film that’s not a sequel or based on something pre-existing in some way. Despite the storyline not being wholly original in every way, it does keep you interested throughout with some decent pacing and almost tactile feelings of danger as the plot gets meatier with time.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Emily the Criminal (other than Barack Obama having it on his movies of the year list) is how it plays with your moral compass. In accordance with the law, you’re not supposed to root for Emily and her accomplices, and yet it successfully forces you to hate the system she’s been limited by, perhaps because so many in the real world are affected by the same afflictions. She’s not inherently a bad person, but they play with the grey areas of human action very well.
This is not a film that’s breaking any major boundaries and it’s not really even all that memorable. However, it’s very topical and will leave you feeling intrigued about what could be next from Evil Hag Productions. Greatness, I hope.
Emily the Criminal is currently available to stream on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK.
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Overall Enjoyability Rating: ½
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