Aubrey Plaza makes a flatly delivered line sound like a private judgement on everyone present. We rate her most when that dry timing belongs to someone greedy or obsessive, not another underwritten sarcastic sidekick.
Fi1m perspective
In Megalopolis (2024), Aubrey Plaza's Wow Platinum wants a rich man's money and sees no reason to be particular about which rich man. Plaza plays the lines with an enjoyment that most of the cast seem unable to find. We enjoyed her shamelessness: she makes Wow's pursuit of money funny while so much around her strains to be serious. Milena Canonero's gowns, cut to make an entrance, help her along. Francis Ford Coppola has given her a muddled film, and she has found something worth doing in it.
April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) established the deadpan, and early typecasting made it a restriction. The limitation was in parts that required her to be sarcastic and little else. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), in which she plays Julie Powers, belongs to this early period. We recommend its fast, precisely timed comedy, with a warning that the fights grow repetitive.
The move into leading film roles begins with Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), which gave her room beyond the comic supporting part. With Ingrid Goes West (2017), she was also producing, taking the lead in a dark comedy about obsession and social media. Emily the Criminal (2022), another film she led and produced, took her into crime drama. These are sensible choices for an actor so comfortable with flawed, obsessive women; there is more for her to play when the discomfort lasts beyond the joke.
Plaza's performance in Megalopolis is far less subdued than the familiar image of her might suggest. Wow is brazen about what she wants, and Plaza plays her without embarrassment, however much embarrassment the film risks elsewhere. The performance is a reason to tolerate Coppola's excesses, though not enough for us to recommend the whole film. We would like more parts this unrestrained, preferably with better writing around them. For the more dependable evening, choose Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and accept that she is part of the company.
Biography
Aubrey Plaza is an American actress, comedian and producer. She began performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre as a teenager and graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Plaza gained recognition for her role as April Ludgate in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). Her film work includes Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and a leading role in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). She starred in the FX series Legion (2017–2019) and received Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in the second season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2022).
In 2024 she appeared as Wow Platinum in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
