In the new indie crime thriller Emily the Criminal, crime pays, but not without some immense complications. 

Aubrey Plaza’s outstanding performance is a highlight under the direction of first-time director John Patton Ford in this gripping tale of a woman’s desperation that leads to an increasingly intense criminal underworld.

Emily is an art school grad with college debt, a criminal background, and a low-paying food delivery job that finds her way into the world of credit card fraud. Using stolen credit cards, she buys merchandise and then leaves before the fraud is discovered. The seemingly easy money starts to become increasingly more dangerous to obtain as the merchandise becomes more expensive and the stakes are higher. 

The tension doesn’t let up, and the film doesn’t rely on excessive violence or special effects to entertain or keep the audience engrossed. 

Aubrey Plaza’s raw, intense performance as a woman surviving in a desperate situation compliments the realistic nature of her predicament. It is rare to see a woman in this type of criminal role that isn’t always portrayed as sympathetic, and Plaza uses her (normally comedic) deadpan delivery to her benefit by preventing Emily from being overly dramatic or naive. 

Focusing instead on the tense severity of Emily’s harrowing journey rather than style and glamour, Emily the Criminal is more realistic than most crime thrillers. The last 30 minutes does get into unrealistic territory, but overall the film succeeds with creating a more raw version of crime films with bigger budgets.