One of the better stories of 2022 indie cinema is the streaming success of the Sundance-premiered crime-drama “Emily the Criminal.” It peaked at the top of Netflix’s trending top 10 in early December and has remained high up there ever since.
The production was made for just $2 million dollars. A lot of this success seems to stem from Plaza coming off the enormous popularity of “The White Lotus,” but it sure helps that “Emily the Criminal” is actually a good movie.
I Capsule reviewed the film back in January and again in July, correlating with its small summer release. It didn’t do much business at the box-office, but has managed to find a large audience on Netflix.
Paul Schrader is also a fan, posting that he had originally confused it with Netflix romcom “Emily In Paris” he eventually come around to it: “What an impressive feature debut! Assured, smart, constantly pushing the narrative.”
If you like Aubrey Plaza as much as I do, then don’t miss this one. She stars as a young woman indebted with student loans who decides to get involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into L.A’s criminal underworld.
“Emily the Criminal” was the closest a Sundance movie came this year to reigniting the taut, tense and terrific thrillers of ‘70s American cinema. John Patton Ford’s film had social commentary to spare, but Plaza stole the show as a 30-something woman immensely desperate to escape the chains of capitalism.
Ford’s screenplay might be a tad too thin and lacking the audacity to truly ignite greatness, but he does the smartest imaginable with what he has: Uniformly focus his camera on Plaza.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.