“Emily the Criminal” MOVIE REVIEW

 

“Emily the Criminal”

 

MOVIE REVIEW

 

Emily the Criminal is an American crime drama written and directed by John Patton Ford. The main actors in the film are Gina Gershon, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Theo Rossi, and Aubrey Plaza.

 

The movie's plot is as follows: Emily is heavily indebted and resides in Los Angeles. She is having difficulty repaying her college debts, in part because her criminal record prevents her from finding a well-paying job. As a result, she works as an "independent contractor" delivering food for a catering business. Emily is introduced to a "dummy shopper" service by a coworker, which guarantees to make her $200 an hour.

The company turns out to be a credit card fraud ring, and Emily meets Youcef, one of its operators, who gives her instructions on how to buy a flat-screen TV with a false credit card and identification. The following day, Emily is given a more difficult task: buying a car with a no-limit credit card. When the dealer figures out the fraud, things go wrong and there is a fight.

 

While Youcef attends to her injuries, they talk about their goals. As her loans are paid off, Emily wants to travel to South America, while Youcef wants to use the money from the fraud ring to buy a rental property. Youcef tells Emily how to create false credit cards at her request. He offers her a taser for protection and warns her against trying to swindle the same store twice in a week or selling stolen things at home. Youcef deceives his cousin Khalil, with whom he shares a job, about his relationship with Emily.

 

While watching the dog for her childhood friend Liz, Emily is followed to her apartment by a buyer of some of her stolen goods, who robs her of her money and takes the dog. She tases the customer and takes both back. At a party, Emily discovers that Liz has arranged for her to have an interview with Alice, the boss, for a position at her advertising agency. Youcef accepts Emily's invitation to the party, which marks the beginning of their relationship.

When Emily was caught hitting the same business twice in a week, the store posted security footage of her online, which Khalil learns about at a meal with Youcef's family. Youcef and Khalil have a falling-out as a result, and Khalil removes him from the fraud network. Emily and Alice's job interview does not go well after she discovers it is an unpaid internship. Alice belittles Emily by calling her "spoiled" when she objects.

 

Emily discovers from Youcef that Khalil hasn't paid him in a long time. He chooses to rob the fraud ring itself because the owner of the rental property he intends to buy also demands an urgent down payment. As Youcef and Emily get to the storage unit where the ring keeps its belongings, they discover that Khalil has already taken everything and depleted their joint corporate bank account.

 

Youcef is persuaded by Emily to confront Khalil at his safe house, where they try to surprise him. Youcef is injured severely as a result of Khalil's attack, but Emily is able to take control of him by using a box cutter. She takes the money from the ring and helps Youcef to his car before realizing they have lost his car keys and are unable to go. Emily decides to leave him in his car and steal the money as the ambulance and police sirens get closer.

When the cops finally raid Emily's apartment, they discover that she has fled. Now that she's settled in South America, she's back to making art. Emily, like Youcef, starts her own credit card fraud ring by enlisting dummy customers and promising $200 per hour.

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