# Emily the Criminal
*Emily the Criminal* is a 2022 American crime thriller written and directed by John Patton Ford, starring [Aubrey Plaza](https://www.edgepedia.org/aubrey-plaza) as a young woman saddled with student debt and a criminal record who takes a job buying goods with stolen credit cards in Los Angeles.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/emily-the-criminal-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda2njy0) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal) It was Ford's feature directorial debut and premiered at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in January 2022 before a theatrical release on August 12, 2022.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Emily-the-Criminal-%282022%29)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | John Patton Ford, his feature directorial debut[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/emily-the-criminal-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda2njy0) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/emily-the-criminal/) |
| Cast | Aubrey Plaza (Emily), Theo Rossi (Youcef), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Liz), Gina Gershon (Alice)[5](https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/wellington/emily-the-criminal/) |
| Release | Sundance January 2022; US theaters August 12, 2022 (Roadside Attractions); streaming October 28, 2022[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Emily-the-Criminal-%282022%29) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal) |
| Box office | $2,156,296 domestic, $669,161 opening weekend in 470 theaters[6](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt15255876/) |
| Production | $3 million budget, shot in 21 days on location in Los Angeles[7](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_emily%20the%20criminal.pdf) • [8](https://blog.frame.io/2022/02/23/voices-from-sundance-2022-an-art-of-the-cut-special/) |
| Reception | 93% Tomatometer (207 reviews); Metascore 75 from 38 critic reviews[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/emily-the-criminal/) |
| Awards | Four Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay; it won Best First Screenplay[9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/PressReleasesSA/2023_SA_FilmNominees_Release_112222_2.pdf) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film325971.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Emily is an aspiring painter with about $70,000 in unpaid student loans for an art-school degree she did not finish, a minor criminal record that locks her out of the job market, and a dead-end catering job.[5](https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/wellington/emily-the-criminal/) • [11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/emily-the-criminal-2022) After a series of unsuccessful interviews, including one for an unpaid internship at a friend's ad agency, she takes a tip about work as a "dummy shopper" paying $200 for one hour.[12](https://readthespirit.com/visual-parables/emily-the-criminal-2022/?print=pdf) • [5](https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/wellington/emily-the-criminal/)
The gig is illegal: she buys high-end goods such as flatscreen televisions with stolen credit card numbers supplied by Youcef, a charismatic middleman.[5](https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/wellington/emily-the-criminal/) • [13](https://www.emilythecriminal.com/synopsis/) Seduced by the quick cash, Emily grows close to her mentor, and the two hatch a plan to take the operation to the next level, a path that leads to violence and deadly consequences.[13](https://www.emilythecriminal.com/synopsis/) • [14](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/emily-the-criminal/umc.cmc.e437iw7k9d6swm8aor88yl47?at=11lNwM&ct=dvd) Ford described the central relationship as an exchange: "Youcef is a compromised person who wants to become normal and Emily is a normal person becoming compromised."[15](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/a-coming-of-age-story-wrapped-up-as-a-thriller-john-patton-ford-on-emily-the-criminal/) Emily ends the film more sure-footed than she began, having started a credit-card fraud operation in South America and recruited others into it.[15](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/a-coming-of-age-story-wrapped-up-as-a-thriller-john-patton-ford-on-emily-the-criminal/) • [22](https://www.nme.com/news/film/emily-the-criminal-ending-explained-what-happened-emily-3361591)
## Production
Ford's award-winning short *Patrol* premiered at Sundance in 2010, and it took him twelve years to secure his first feature as writer and director.[16](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/12/20/director-john-patton-ford-on-the-long-journey-of-emily-the-criminal-to-the-big-screen/) The screenplay went through thirty-eight drafts over a six-year development period, most of that time spent on the relationship between Emily and Youcef.[15](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/a-coming-of-age-story-wrapped-up-as-a-thriller-john-patton-ford-on-emily-the-criminal/)
**A compressed shoot.** The film was made on a small $3 million budget and shot over 21 days on real locations in Los Angeles, including a downtown flea market.[7](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_emily%20the%20criminal.pdf) • [8](https://blog.frame.io/2022/02/23/voices-from-sundance-2022-an-art-of-the-cut-special/) • [17](https://filmmakermagazine.com/113177-john-patton-ford-emily-the-criminal-sundance-2022/) Because of COVID-19, Ford cast entirely from self-tapes with no chemistry reads and did not meet [Theo Rossi](https://www.edgepedia.org/theo-rossi) until three days before production began.[17](https://filmmakermagazine.com/113177-john-patton-ford-emily-the-criminal-sundance-2022/) Background extras wore masks, so the crew adapted by shooting on longer lenses and staying close to the character, a visual style Ford said created a stress appropriate to the story.[17](https://filmmakermagazine.com/113177-john-patton-ford-emily-the-criminal-sundance-2022/)
Post-production was equally fast: editor Harrison Atkins cut the whole film in five or six weeks to meet the Sundance submission deadline, six weeks after the end of principal photography.[8](https://blog.frame.io/2022/02/23/voices-from-sundance-2022-an-art-of-the-cut-special/) • [18](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/emily-criminal-john-patton-ford-director-interview?amp=1) Plaza also served as a producer, alongside Tyler Davidson and Drew Sykes.[18](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/emily-criminal-john-patton-ford-director-interview?amp=1) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal)
## Reception and box office
The film earned a 93% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 207 reviews, with a critics' consensus calling it "a taut thriller that contains a wealth of social commentary" stolen by Plaza's performance, and a 79% audience score.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal) On Metacritic it scored 75 based on 38 critic reviews, with 84% positive.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/emily-the-criminal/) Reviewers singled out Plaza's lead performance; Richard Brody of *The New Yorker* found the script strong but the film itself less so, while the BFI's *Sight and Sound* praised its high-tension sequences while judging the social critique and romantic elements less effective.[19](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/emily-the-criminal-reviewed-good-script-meh-movie) • [20](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/emily-criminal-aubrey-plaza-excels-this-well-drawn-nail-biter)
Released in 470 theaters on August 12, 2022, the film opened to $669,161 and ran for nine weeks, finishing with $2,156,296 domestically and $1,377 internationally, a worldwide total of about $2.16 million against its $3 million budget.[6](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt15255876/) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Emily-the-Criminal-%282022%29) • [7](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_emily%20the%20criminal.pdf)
At the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards the film received four nominations, for Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Lead Performance, and Best Supporting Performance, and won Best First Screenplay.[9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/PressReleasesSA/2023_SA_FilmNominees_Release_112222_2.pdf) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film325971.html)
## Themes and style
Several critics read the film as social commentary on the economics facing Emily's generation: student debt, gig work without rights or protections, and a job market closed to anyone with a record.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/emily-the-criminal-2022) • [20](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/emily-criminal-aubrey-plaza-excels-this-well-drawn-nail-biter) *Time Out* described it as a "dark, late-capitalist fable" set in a morally neutral world where crime can pay and going straight often leads to exploitation.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/emily-the-criminal-2022) The British Board of Film Classification rated the finished film for strong language, violence, threat, and drug misuse, noting that the credit-card cloning process is depicted without useful or effective detail.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/emily-the-criminal-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda2njy0)
Stylistically, reviewers compared its grounded, small-scale tension to the flinty neo-noir of [Michael Mann](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-mann)'s *Thief* (1981) and [William Friedkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-friedkin)'s *To Live and Die in L.A.* (1985), and RogerEbert.com likened its pacing to the [Safdie brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/safdie-brothers)' *Good Time*, though more bare-bones in style.[20](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/emily-criminal-aubrey-plaza-excels-this-well-drawn-nail-biter) • [21](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/emily-the-criminal-movie-review-2022)
## References
1. [Emily the Criminal, BBFC classification and content advice](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/emily-the-criminal-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda2njy0)
2. [Emily the Criminal, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/emily_the_criminal)
3. [Emily the Criminal (2022), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Emily-the-Criminal-%282022%29)
4. [Emily the Criminal Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/emily-the-criminal/)
5. [Emily the Criminal, New Zealand International Film Festival 2022](https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/wellington/emily-the-criminal/)
6. [Emily the Criminal, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt15255876/)
7. [Emily the Criminal (2022), Film Criticism, University of Michigan](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_emily%20the%20criminal.pdf)
8. [Voices from Sundance 2022: An Art of the Cut Special, Frame.io Insider](https://blog.frame.io/2022/02/23/voices-from-sundance-2022-an-art-of-the-cut-special/)
9. [2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations press release](https://s3.amazonaws.com/PressReleasesSA/2023_SA_FilmNominees_Release_112222_2.pdf)
10. [Emily the Criminal (2022), Filmaffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film325971.html)
11. [Sundance review: Aubrey Plaza breaks bad in Emily the Criminal, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/emily-the-criminal-2022)
12. [Emily the Criminal (2022), Visual Parables, ReadTheSpirit](https://readthespirit.com/visual-parables/emily-the-criminal-2022/?print=pdf)
13. [Emily the Criminal, official synopsis](https://www.emilythecriminal.com/synopsis/)
14. [Emily the Criminal, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/emily-the-criminal/umc.cmc.e437iw7k9d6swm8aor88yl47?at=11lNwM&ct=dvd)
15. [A Coming of Age Story Wrapped Up as a Thriller: John Patton Ford on Emily the Criminal, Creative Screenwriting](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/a-coming-of-age-story-wrapped-up-as-a-thriller-john-patton-ford-on-emily-the-criminal/)
16. [Director John Patton Ford on the Long Journey of Emily the Criminal to the Big Screen, Awards Daily](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/12/20/director-john-patton-ford-on-the-long-journey-of-emily-the-criminal-to-the-big-screen/)
17. [I Had to Look Inward and Accept the Uncertainty: John Patton Ford, Emily the Criminal, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/113177-john-patton-ford-emily-the-criminal-sundance-2022/)
18. [Emily the Criminal Director John Patton Ford on Researching Credit Card Fraud, M&E](https://mande.net/btl/crafts/emily-criminal-john-patton-ford-director-interview?amp=1)
19. [Emily the Criminal, Reviewed: Good Script, Meh Movie, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/emily-the-criminal-reviewed-good-script-meh-movie)
20. [Emily the Criminal review, Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/emily-criminal-aubrey-plaza-excels-this-well-drawn-nail-biter)
21. [Emily the Criminal movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/emily-the-criminal-movie-review-2022)
22. ['Emily The Criminal' ending explained: what happened to Emily?](https://www.nme.com/news/film/emily-the-criminal-ending-explained-what-happened-emily-3361591)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2020–2022 films › Released in 2022*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license