Poor film about a crime where folio goes astray (8)
I believe the answer is:
pathetic
'poor' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'film about a crime where folio goes astray' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'film' could be 'et' (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and 'et' is located in the answer.
'about' could be 'c' (abbreviation for circa) and 'c' is located in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Arousing pity, miserably inadequate" , "Arousing pity or sadness" , "Derisory" , "Sort of fallacy" , "Pitiable - paltry - touching" .)