The post Sundance Review: Aubrey Plaza Breaks Bad in the Tense Thriller Emily the Criminal appeared first on Consequence.
This review is part of our coverage of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
The Pitch: Emily (Aubrey Plaza) just can’t catch a break. She’s a college dropout, reeling from a felony aggravated assault conviction that follows her to every job interview, tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt weighing her down like a ball and chain. It’s calcified her to the world, approaching each new interview just waiting for the next reason she’ll be rejected. All she’s got to her name are her wits and a can of pepper spray.
But a rare opportunity appears when a coworker at her degrading catering gig turns her onto a way to make some extra money: show up at a warehouse at the proper hour, perform a small-scale credit card scam with boosted flatscreens, and you earn $200 in an hour. You won’t be in any danger, and you won’t have to hurt anybody, explains her handler Youcef (Theo Rossi), “But it is against the law.”
Emily does it, and wouldn’t you know it, she takes to it. She likes it. And what’s more, she’s good at it. It might just be her way out of debt — if she can stay alive.
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