“Emily the Criminal”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, follows a young desperate woman who happens to tumble into crime out of her growing financial desperation. As phlegmatically observing her criminal descent, the movie slowly builds up the tension surrounding her increasingly tricky circumstance, and it is also strongly held by one of the best movie performances of last year.

Aubrey Plaza, who has been showing more of the serious sides of her talent since her notable supporting turn in TV sitcom series “Parks and Recreation”, plays Emily Benetto, a college dropout who has tried to earn her meager living in LA. As shown from the opening scene, Emily has tried to get any job better than her current menial job, but, unfortunately, there is a little but notable criminal record of hers in the past, and her latest job interview is eventually botched because of that.

And we get to know a bit about how economically desperate Emily has been during recent several years. Although she did not graduate, she still has to pay off her tuition loan which is no less than 70,000 dollars, and, to make things worse, she can barely afford to pay off its interest only, no matter how hard she works everyday. On one day, one of her co-workers introduces her to a rather shady part-time job opportunity for earning 200 dollars per hour at least, and she does not hesitate to grab it, even though she does not feel so comfortable about this seemingly good chance from the beginning.

Of course, it does not take much for her to see what kind of job she has to do for earning as much as promised to her. She and a bunch of other people gather at a place run by a guy named Youcef (Theo Rossi) and his cousin, and Youcef gives them a generous warning in advance on what he is going to ask them to do. He and his cousin have run a little but lucrative credit card theft operation, and they always need someone to use those stolen credit cards for buying expensive stuffs to be sold by Youcef and his cousin later. Discerning well what kind of risk she will take, Emily initially decides to leave along with a few others, but then she changes her mind because, well, she really needs money right now.

The first job she will have to do looks like a piece of cake. Once she receives one of those stolen credit cards, she will go to a local shopping mall where she is supposed to buy a big TV, and all she needs to do is not drawing any unnecessary attention before she eventually walks out of the shopping mall and hands that purchase TV to Youcef.

When Youcef later suggests another job which may earn her more money, Emily is not so willing at first, but, of course, she comes to let herself get more associated with Youcef’s criminal operation as being tempted by more money to come. Although she has to face more risk, she cannot resist what she gets in exchange for that, and it actually look like she will finally solve her current financial problem.

And there also comes the possibility of a new start for her. When she meets and talks a bit with an old college friend of hers, this friend says that she may help Emily get hired at her current workplace where Emily can fully utilize her considerable artistic talent, and Emily is certainly eager to grab this lucky opportunity even though her friend does not promise her much.

Meanwhile, Emily also finds a possibility of romance from Youcef, who comes to like her a lot and even teaches her a bit on his credit card theft skills. At one point, he gladly shows her an empty house where he may achieve his own American dream, and Emily become more attracted to this small-time criminal while also committing one credit card theft after another.

Not so surprisingly, there eventually comes a point where everything begins to fall apart for its heroine, but the movie keeps its detached non-judgmental attitude to the end even when things become quite dire for its heroine. Virtually being cornered in one way or another, Emily comes to cross more than one line in the name of survival, and that even amazes her criminal associate.

Without making any excuse or compromise on her character, Plaza’s commendable performance firmly holds our attention to the end. What Emily does along the story is often criminal to say the least, Plaza ably conveys to us her character’s sheer desperation, and we come to understand and empathize more with Emily even when she lets herself sink further into crime. In case of several substantial supporting performers in the story, Theo Rossi and Megalyn Echikunwoke are effective in their respective parts, and Gina Gershon briefly appears as the haughty boss of Emily’s aforementioned friend later in the film.

“Emily the Criminal” is the first feature film by director/writer John Patton Ford, who deservedly received the Best First Film Screenplay Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards early in this year. Thanks to his skillful handling of story and character as well as Plaza’s top-notch efforts, the movie is a compelling mix of character study and thriller genre, and it will be interesting to see what he will give us next in the future. In short, this is one of better films of last year, and you should really check it out if you have not watched it yet.