Mini Film Review – Emily The Criminal

Yesterday I watched Emily the Criminal; and it was really good! Directed by John Patton Ford, and starring Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, and Megalyn Echikunwoke; Emily the Criminal is a crime thriller about a young woman who gets involved in a credit card scam, as she can’t get a better job than her current one, due to being locked out of the market due to a criminal record. The film is nicely paced, as it first highlights the struggle for students going out into the real world, to get jobs they trained for at university and college, as well as highlighting the struggle too for those trying to move on from issues in their past. The film then flies head first into the beginnings of Emily’s career as a credit card scammer, to getting good at it, and then forming relationships in that world. However, the film eventually needs to show how things can spiral out of control, leading to a near knuckle biting conclusion, as you don’t know how it’s all going to work out, or even if there is some sort of happy ending; choosing instead to go with something more thought provoking. It’s a very realistic film, highlighting the financial struggles of the greater population, whilst highlighting the high life of those lucky to get better paid work. But instead of droning this point on, the film instead keeps it mindfully as a foundation, and uses it to launch the film in a different direction, leading on to what is a very enjoyable, as well as a brutally, and realistically intense crime thriller!