Every so often, there can emerge a beguiling yet bold performer whose roles keep us on our toes in just how subtle and strange they can be. They can shift between various shades of tension with ease, turning a nervous situation on its head with a simple change in tone or expression. Of late, there is no better example of this than the films of one Aubrey Plaza. Though she is perhaps most known to many for her role in the sitcom Parks and Recreation, her growing body of work shows her sense of range and command of craft. Her newest film, the messy and chaotic Emily the Criminal, is the latest instance of this in action, though it is by no means the first. Instead, it is important to look back across the past several years, when she has taken on challenging role after challenging role to remarkable effect. All are overflowing with an odd awkwardness that threatens to swallow you whole, an element that Plaza teases out to reveal unexpected humorous and dramatic territory that is all her own.
In the dynamic Ingrid Goes West from 2017, Plaza played the titular Ingrid, a troubled woman who finds a connection that blurs into obsession through social media. There was the persistent feeling that she was unstable, a product of loss and social isolation, that just kept growing more present. You would go from laughing to grimacing as the shenanigans she gets into slide into anxiety and even a bit of fear. Plaza sells this in a way that only she could, pushing the boundaries of social expectations to reveal a greater truth underneath it all. All the cringe of these scenes take on a surprising catharsis, revealing the comedy and tragedy that is swirling around her. There is just no way to run from it and Plaza plays this to her advantage, ensuring we begin to pity Ingrid while also worrying about what she will do to find a connection. The tension from just how awkward she is goes beyond being a joke into being quite dire, delving into a darkness that is operating underneath the surface of a silly exterior.
Following that was the abundantly awkward Black Bear, a slept-on thriller about show business and relationships that pulled no punches. In it, Plaza plays a filmmaker named Allison who goes to a cabin retreat in hopes of discovering inspiration for her art. What follows is a series of increasingly tense interactions with the property owners Gabe (Christopher Abbott) and Blair (Sarah Gadon) who also are a couple. However, all is not well in paradise as Allison gets to witness the duo argue repeatedly and aggressively. Blair even turns on her, telling Allison at one point that she is “really hard to read,” which turns out to be the understatement of the year that also speaks to just how good Plaza is at being anarchic. Nothing is what it seems, and the film soon shifts into being something different entirely, pulling the rug out from under us once more to deconstruct almost everything. It is all uniquely uncomfortable as it peels back all the pretension of what we have known while still ratcheting up a sense of anxiety. Characters become mirrors of themselves, though Plaza remains profoundly in command of all the refractions that are taking place. She is able to turn inward as the film looks outward back at us, embracing what is almost suffocating in its discomfort and disruptions. Plaza ensures the flipping of the script takes on a more somber sensibility.
Don’t let it be mistaken, this is also felt in her work in more recent, lighthearted fare like Happiest Season or the absurdist An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn. Though these are vastly different in genre and tone, they are united by Plaza's unique way of immersing her characters in awkward situations that she then uses to catch us off guard. Whether it is to draw out an unexpected comedic moment or a painful dramatic one - sometimes even both - all of these roles have felt distinct because of how she plays them. She has a persona that many believe is centered around the spectacle of this way she can get under your skin, though it is much more than that. To play with awkwardness as she does is no easy undertaking, as it is capable of alienating an audience just as easily as it can capture their attention. It requires a greater sense of subtlety where Plaza walks a thin tightrope that she could all too easily fall off of. She is a performer that will often come at the audience with abandon, unrestrained yet completely in control of what she is doing. Her recent films have finally been able to give her the room to work with all of this, navigating complex emotional conundrums that can confound and cut deep at the same time. What could easily be over-the-top and far too blunt in the hands of a lesser performer becomes something more engaging when Plaza is at the center of it. There is an underrated art to navigating the awkward as she does. The ability she has to convincingly transgress rules and boundaries reveals a deeper awareness of humanity.
This all brings us back to Emily The Criminal, a film that navigates this awkwardness with more stakes than she ever has before. While not up to the same level of engagement as Plaza is herself, she remains undeniably riveting. From her deadpan delivery to the way she attempts to run a scam, you just can’t escape how tenuous everything feels. The tension relies not just on the terror of her getting caught, but in the way Plaza carries each scene. Emily is initially uncertain about what she is doing and the many dishonest conversations she has with people she is stealing from makes the most of this. With every new job that she does, she gets more used to the discomfort which only makes us as an audience more off put by it all. When it blows up in her face, the discomfort threatens to become deadly and leaves us unable to look away from Plaza’s performance. The more she becomes comfortable with the uncomfortable and even threatening brings everything to new heights that it wouldn’t have reached without her. More than just a joke, it is all about weaving tension and the twinges of terror into every single moment. It is what she excels at most, becoming a wrecking ball of chaos who thrives in the unpredictability of what new strange situation she’ll bring to life next.