Emilia Pérez is a film that defies classification. It is, all at once, a narco crime saga, a melodrama, and a pop opera tackling themes of identity, redemption, and evolution. It's wrapped in over-the-top musical theatrics, too, with the movie beginning with Zoe Saldaña's under-appreciated lawyer Rita performing a song about a murder case in the neon-lit streets of Mexico. From there, it gets even bolder.
Director Jacques Audiard
Release Date November 13, 2024
Studio(s) Why Not Productions , Saint Laurent , Page 114 , Pathé , France 2 Cinéma , LPI Media , Pimienta Films , The Veterans
Writers Jacques Audiard , Thomas Bidegain , Léa Mysius
Cast Karla Sofía Gascón , Zoe Saldana , Selena Gomez , Adriana Paz , Edgar Ramirez , Mark Ivanir , Eduardo Aladro , Emiliano Edmundo Hasan Jalil , James Gerard , Eric Geynes , Agathe Bokja , Chun-Ting Lin , Stéphane Ly-Cuong , Line Phé , Pascal Toussirot , Karla Lazo Runtime 130 Minutes
Emilia Pérez is unlike anything you've ever seen, both for the audacious story at its center and for Jacques Audiard's direction, which blends high theatrics and experimental technique. It's a miracle that a movie like this even exists. Anchored by three deeply moving performances, Emilia Pérez works despite the fact that it shouldn't, making for an affecting and thrilling drama that teeters between chaos and control.
Emilia Pérez Is An Electrifying Experience
I've Never Seen Anything Like It
From the first musical number, Emilia Pérez reveals itself as something wholly original. The film finds power in these moments, as when Rita sings about her unsatisfying job or when Karla Sofía Gascón sings with melancholy about her character's gender-affirming surgery as Juan "Manitas" Del Monte.
In short, Emilia Pérez is about Manitas, a powerful drug lord who wishes to transition into a woman and live her life as it's meant to be lived. Enlisting the help of Rita, Manitas eventually achieves this goal, leaving behind her wife Jessi (Selena Gomez, as you've never seen her before) and two children out of fear for their safety.
A lot of threads are left unexplored in favor of spectacle, but that spectacle is a feature, not a bug, and those unexplored threads don't negate the power of the film.
Some years have passed since her transition when Emilia returns to reclaim her old life, including her former wife and children, who she tucked away in Switzerland before her transition. She reconnects with Rita and begins work to repent for her sins in her former life. There are tens of thousands of missing people in Mexico and Emilia hopes to give their families closure.
It's a redemption story, sure, but the film also asks if Emilia can be truly absolved for what she's done and whether she's really changed. The answer is complicated. But Emilia Pérez is a complicated film, one that perhaps tackles too much thematically. A lot of threads are left unexplored in favor of spectacle, but that spectacle is a feature, not a bug, and those unexplored threads don't negate the power of the film.
Once Emilia returns to Mexico, the movie opts for a moral tale about the past and whether it's possible to atone for horrific crimes. To reveal the film's answer would be a spoiler, but the sins of the past rear their ugly heads in various ways, though Emilia Pérez is more concerned with her life than it is the thorny questions it poses.
Supported By Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña & Adriana Paz
The entire cast of Emilia Pérez, including supporting players Edgar Ramirez (always a delight) and Adriana Paz (delicate yet formidable as Epifanía) hold up the movie, but it's Gascón that lights up the screen. Tasked with juggling all the weighty themes of the film, the actress gives a complex and layered performance as the title character.
Each relationship — particularly between the core four women — is explored with nuance. Gascón is slyly mischievous with Jessi, tender and loving with Epifanía, and resolute yet trusting with Rita. Though there are multiple love stories in Emilia Pérez, the most fascinating is the one between Rita and Emilia.
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It's a testament to Saldaña and Gascón's power that a quiet conversation in the middle of a restaurant — part of it sung, lights dramatically dimmed so that only the pair are spotlighted as others talk around them — is as compelling and heart-racing as it is. There are many of these stylistic flourishes in Emilia Pérez, making the film feel vibrant and kinetic. It's not a perfect film, but Emilia Pérez is endlessly captivating, an exercise in genre, tone, and sheer fearlessness.
It was acquired by Netflix after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but if you can see it in a theater, you absolutely must. Again, it's rare that a film like Emilia Pérez comes along, and it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible so that you can feel the energy that exudes from the screen, see the song-and-dance numbers in all their glory, and experience a once-in-a-lifetime film the way it was meant to be experienced.
Emilia Pérez premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before screening at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is now in theaters and will be available to stream on Netflix on November 13. It is 132 minutes long and rated R for language, some violent content and sexual material.
Emilia Perez is a drama film that follows the life of Emilia Perez, a determined and ambitious individual striving to make a name for herself in a competitive environment. The story explores her journey as she navigates the challenges and obstacles that come her way, all while uncovering the complexities of her own identity.
Pros
- Emilia Pérez's combination of genres makes for an unforgettable experience.
- Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz give stunning performances, but Karla Sofía Gascón is the heart of the film.
- Emilia Pérez feels like a rare, big screen spectacle that defies categorization.
Cons
- Some of the film's themes are not thoroughly explored.
English (US) ·