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 quite understand how this works, but
'film' could be 'et' (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and 'et' is found within the answer.
'about' could be 'c' (abbreviation for circa) and 'c' is found in the answer.
'a' is present 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" .)