In this film, drama is intertwined with moments of action, but it is Plaza's performance that really stands out, as she manages to give her character a complex dimension that transcends what is expected. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 10, 2025

"Emily The Criminal is a tight-knit thriller that effectively doubles as an arresting examination of those driven to crime by American capitalism."

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 15, 2025

Director John Patton Ford gives us a modern thriller that also works as an excoriation of the economic injustices that separate the haves from the have-nots in America.

| Aug 1, 2024

‘…what makes this so striking is that crime staples of couch-potato experience, suddenly seem so real, dangerous and anxiety-inducing; if our workplace practices are criminal, we can hardly expect our increasingly exploited workforce to feel any different

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 29, 2024

Writer-director Ford, who introduces intriguing social facts into his work, seems unclear himself about the driving forces in the drama.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 3, 2024

Plaza projects her character’s apprehension and channels it into moral outrage directed at her attackers as well as her physical and societal limitations.

| Aug 16, 2023

Plaza is an indie cinema screen magnet; saying that she killed this role isn’t something that causes shock.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 29, 2023

...the film’s visual inertia undermines the tremendous significance of the story, particularly its ending...

| Jul 28, 2023

Emily the Criminal is an edge-of-your-seat thriller aimed directly at millennials, replacing the glamor and sexiness prevalent in crime films made by previous generations with an indictment against the stacked deck economy that’s become the status quo.

| Jul 26, 2023

It doesn't really matter what the "objective" strengths and weaknesses of the film are... it's a movie of intense emotional potency, and I suspect that whether you like it or not will come down entirely to how you react to it on a purely gut level.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 25, 2023

This one [the movie], with Aubrey Plaza, is probably the best role I've ever seen her do.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Jul 24, 2023

Perhaps the realization is too distant for the character and there isn't an attempt to penetrate her psychology and motivation. Nonetheless, it's clear that the promise of the title is more than fulfilled. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jul 10, 2023

Far and away the most pervasive aspect of Emily the Criminal is its depiction of being on the sidelines of life in America, almost through no fault of one’s own.

| Jun 6, 2023

A small gem just waiting for viewers to discover it. You should make sure that you do.

| Original Score: 8/10 | May 8, 2023

Emily the Criminal confirms Plaza as one of the most magnificent performers of our times, and she should be offered roles of every kind. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 4, 2023

As an arts graduate on the wrong side of inequality, Plaza is riveting as a young woman finding her foot in the Los Angeles underworld.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 16, 2023

Emily the Criminal is just the latest in a decade’s worth of iconic, perfect, unforgettable dramatic roles for the queen of deadpan.

| Feb 28, 2023

The movie has a social commentary that’s not preachy, putting on display the cut-off predicament that ex-cons of all ages run into. Plaza just keeps getting better and better.

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 19, 2023

Plaza’s tough but sympathetic performance keeps you hooked all the way.

| Jan 31, 2023

As neatly set-up as the world of the film is, it wouldn’t work half as well without Aubrey Plaza’s brilliantly specific lead performance, portraying Emily as an emotionally shut-down woman on the edge.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 25, 2023