‘Emily the Criminal’: The Aubrey Plaza movie that confirmed her genius
This is going to sound embarrassing, but before I watched Aubrey Plaza in the 2022 indie thriller Emily the Criminal, I’d only seen her in the Child’s Play remake and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
Of course, since being bowled over by her raw magnetism and undeniable screen presence in John Patton Ford’s film, I’ve dabbled in some more Plaza works, most notably The White Lotus, and will surely have to get around to watching Parks and Recreation at some point. Nevertheless, memes and gifs of Plaza’s dead-eyed performance as April Ludgate in that sitcom were almost my entire frame of reference for her particular set of on-screen skills – but thanks to the financially challenged Emily Benetto, I now know she has many more strings to her bow.
Emily the Criminal is the story of a young woman frozen out of the job market because of a criminal conviction for assault against an abusive ex-boyfriend. When she can’t make money through legal means, she becomes embroiled in a credit card scam that seems harmless at first, but soon drags her into the underbelly of Los Angeles.
It’s the kind of movie that was a dime a dozen in the 1970s and still has a life in the indie filmmaking space and on streaming. Sure, most of the modern incarnations of this kind of gritty, realistic crime drama aren’t a patch on their predecessors, but Emily the Criminal is a notable exception, and a lot of the credit has to go to Plaza, who imbues the film with an unpredictable energy and a unique mixture of internal grit and vulnerability that is fascinating to watch.
As you watch the film, you simultaneously believe Benetto is a tough cookie who can use her street smarts to her advantage and outsmart the gangsters breathing down her neck, but also a young woman in over her head, who is simply hanging on for dear life.
In this respect, Plaza’s performance is a mark of her particular kind of genius. In another actor’s hands, it wouldn’t have worked anywhere near as well, because many may have been tempted to play Benetto as a more obviously badass character, especially as the film’s third act goes well and truly off the rails. On the other hand, some actors would have veered too far on the side of vulnerability, which would have made the finale fucking laughable. Plaza’s steely eyes are often used as a window into the character’s soul, and they say so much more than words ever could.
In some ways, Emily the Criminal is Plaza’s version of A Woman Under the Influence, her favourite John Cassavetes film. While that wasn’t a crime picture, it was shot in a goddamn chaotic, realistic style, and the central performance from Gena Rowlands has edge and vulnerability to burn. “I loved Gena Rowlands,” Plaza once said, “and I think the approach that Cassavetes had when he was shooting films, especially with her, and how real those scenes feel, there’s a chaotic kind of vibe to his movies.”
She concluded, “It’s almost so real that it’s painful when you watch her perform in his movies.” Almost so real that it’s painful? Sounds very Emily the Criminal to me.
