Emily Brown is a kleptomaniac with a penchant for watches. She shoplifts and has an apartment full of things she doesn't need. Nick Ruiz is a department store loss prevention specialist who dislikes his job. He needs some fast cash to start his own private security business. One day Emily enters a department store and her compulsion to steal sets her in motion. Nick catches her on tape and instead of arresting her, he becomes intrigued and pursues her. After the two have become involved, Nick forces Emily to use her unique talent to bail him out of a bad situation. The outcome results in a climactic turn of events where justice plays its hand.
Acting
Meredith Bishop's twitchy, desperate physicality sells the compulsion
Direction
Trail's surveillance-camera aesthetic makes voyeurism thematic
Director
Thomas Trail
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Thomas Trail's feature debut after music videos for Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, which explains the grimy surveillance aesthetic.
Released in 2003 but shot in 2001, it captures that specific post-dot-com, pre-recession moment when stealing from big box stores felt like vague political praxis.
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