John Patton Ford

The offhanded title may make you believe Emily the Criminal is a comedy, but there’s nothing funny about this thriller which offers biting social commentary along with action and suspense. Aubrey Plaza Emily, whose paycheck as a food delivery person doesn’t make a dent in her crushing student loan debt. But she can’t pass a background check because of a past assault conviction so she’s trapped in this dead-end job — until a co-worker refers her for a “dummy shopper” position where she can make $200 an hour.

Even admirers of the always solid work from Aubrey Plaza over the years will be stunned by her riveting, nuanced performance in this taut thriller/character study about a young woman who, for complicated reasons, is trapped by her circumstances and turns to a life of crime. That’s the power of both John Patton Ford’s razor sharp debut and Plaza’s coiled but controlled performance.