Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi).

Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef.

Together, they hatch a plan to bring their business to the next level in Los Angeles.

“Aubrey Plaza’s wonderfully nuanced performance anchors this absorbing story... EMILY THE CRIMINAL plays less like a lecture on the evils of capitalism than a darkly demented workplace drama, a cry of outrage from those forced to choose between legal enslavement and illegally obtained freedom.” Jeannette Catsoulis. A New York Times Critic's Pick!