Sundance 2022 Day 8 Recap

Though there are a couple of days left of the Sundance 2022 Film Festival to screen all the award winners, I most likely won't be seeing anything new for the rest of the fest. It's been a really great year, but before I do my wrap-up of the festival as a whole, I still have one more review to cover! Yesterday I got to see the latest from Aubrey Plaza that literally had my name on it.

EMILY THE CRIMINAL

Aubrey Plaza is no stranger to Sundance having appeared in many films to debut at the festival over the last several years. But it is here where she gives a career-best performance in Emily the Criminal, a taut crime thriller that keeps your eyes constantly glued to the screen. Right from the first scene, Plaza's eyes draw us into her world and the hopelessness of her situation. Emily is saddled with thousands of dollars of student debt, as well as a felony on her record. It is impossible for her to get a job due to background checks and thus freedom from debt is seemingly unobtainable. One day she happens upon an opportunity that promises to make her a lot of money--the only catch? Breaking the law. Emily quickly gets pulled into this underworld as she sees the potential to make big money very fast. But it's a dangerous world and the stakes are high. Emily the Criminal doesn't feel like a revelation by any means but seeing this side of credit card fraud is totally fascinating and you can't help but feel caught up with Emily in all the action. Director John Patton Ford never eases the tension and feels comfortably in control of the film the whole time. As such, he imbues the film with endless anxiety for a character that on paper maybe we shouldn't care about, but that Plaza easily makes us worry about. RATING: 7/10