Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment have just debuted the official trailer for John Patton Ford‘s feature directorial debut, the crime thriller Emily the Criminal.
Written and directed by Patton Ford, the film stars Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear, Child’s Play (2019)), Theo Rossi (Army of the Dead, “Sons of Anarchy”), Megalyn Echikunwok , Gina Gershon (Night School, Late Night), Jonathan Avigdori (Snowfall”, “The Lincoln Lawyer”) and Bernardo Badillo (Sully, Queen of the South).
The film centres around Emily (Plaza) who finds herself saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Strapped for cash and desperate to find some, she accepts a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi). Following interview after interview for dead-end jobs, Emily soon falls for the fast money and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, growing increasingly drawn to her mentor Youcef. Together they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level in Los Angeles.
Commenting on the genesis behind the film, Patton Ford said, “On the surface, Emily the Criminal is about a woman who becomes a criminal to pay her student loans. I’m not a criminal (or a woman for that matter) but the story is personal, nonetheless. In a way many Americans might understand, I graduated from school with ninety thousand dollars of debt. The housing crisis was still doing damage, and I ended up delivering food and struggling to pay my interest each month. Not the principal, just the interest. That’s when I had the idea to make a movie about a millennial who hits the breaking point and decides to make her own rules. Millennial Dirty Harry. “Why doesn’t this exist”, I wondered.”
Emily the Criminal will release in theaters this August 12, and in the meantime, we’ll leave you with the aforementioned trailer.
