2024 has been a year of bold swings. From indulgent passion project flops like “Horizon” and “Megalopolis” to sprawling epics like “The Brutalist” to poetic, unique visionary adaptions like “Nickel Boys,” there has been no shortage of original cinema. These outings are far beyond the normal hyperbole of experimental and elevated, two words that have been largely overused to describe anything that isn’t standard studio genre fare. This year in cinema is chock full of genre defying films (for better or worse) that seem bent on thinking outside of the box and challenging audiences to experience something new. Enter “Emilia Perez,” an audacious, ambitious, bold new film from Jacques Audiard that seems to push the limits of limit pushing. From Cannes to Telluride to TIFF, the film has run the festival circuit to surprising critical acclaim, garnering awards and/or nominations at just about every appearance it has made ahead of its wide release.
“Emilia Perez” was acquired by Netflix, and is poised to be its frontrunner in the Oscar race. All of this is surprising – not because the film is bad (it isn’t) – but because it is a whole lot of movie bursting with ideas that seems to asks a lot of a very specific audience. “Emilia Perez” is part crime drama, part ensemble thriller, part social commentary, part comedy, part telenovela, part melodrama, and part love story. Oh, and it’s also a musical. Oh, and it’s also a trans affirmation story. The film is so many things it’s amazing it doesn’t crumble under its own weight. Thankfully, “Emilia Perez” pillars itself on 3 incredible women at the forefront, all of whom use their talents to hold things together even in moments when it feels like everything may rip at the seams. I don’t want to compare it to something like “Megalopolis” too often, but both films wear their ambitions on their sleeve and work tirelessly to execute a very specific vision. One, however, is far more successful than the other, and one I would recommend anyone actually sit down and watch.
It’s hard to really provide a strong synopsis of “Emilia Perez” that encapsulates its entirety. At its barebones, the film follows Rita Mora Castro (an exquisite Zoe Saldana) a lawyer at the end of her rope at a dead end job. She is approached- well really, kidnapped – by ruthless cartel leader Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), who reveals to her that he wants Rita to help fake his own death so that he can live as his true self as a woman. She adopts her new identity and name as Emilia Perez, and despite objections from Rita, decides to reunite with her children and wife Jessi Del Monte (Selena Gomez) who do not know this woman pretending to be their long lost aunt is actually the person they believe to be dead. Of course, drama and violence and crime all collide as these three women take a complicated journey together through this musical odyssey. “Emilia Perez” is loosely adapted from the 2018 novel Écoute by Boris Razon, which Audiard adapted as an opera prior to this current iteration as a film.
For all its ambitious and ideas, “Emilia Perez” is hard not to be swept up by. It is enrapturing with its world and music, constantly engaging you with each new layer and facet that gets introduced. It thrives in its first two acts, delivering an almost disorienting approach and leaving you in anticipation for what comes next. Saldana and Gascón are the lynchpins of “Emilia Perez,” dazzling the screen with unbelievable presence and remarkable work. None of these bold and sometimes confusing ideas work without these women, with Saldana delivering a career best and reminding us that she is a true generational talent far beyond her MCU shackles, and Gascón boldly introducing herself to the world. There is a genuine authenticity to her performance and character, making “Emilia Perez” a trans story unlike any other. While framed in an exaggerated world of the criminal underground, Audiard smartly opts to focus on the challenges of character rather than the trauma of transgender living.
This makes Gascón’s Perez a much more accessible and sometimes funny character, allowing audiences to become more interested in her complicated quest to reunite with her family while working to correct the mistakes of her past rather than which gender they identify with. That’s not to say “Emilia Perez” isn’t a trans affirming story, just that its exploration of self and identity and purpose go beyond that small lens and encompasses all of the women at the helm instead of a singular focus. With so much going on and so much to say, it’s Gomez’ Jessie that gets the short end of the stick. Her arc really doesn’t start coming to light until the third act, and it’s here where “Emilia Perez” becomes its most melodramic and uneven. Of the three women that lead the film, she’s given the least amount to do and the least amount of character development, being an integral part of the overall story but more a background in other arcs than a fully realized one of her own.
It IS a musical, and don’t let any marketing for “Emilia Perez” pretend that it’s not. the music by Camille is simultaneously infectious and forgettable, invigorating and pulsating in the moment but lacking the staying power of humming tunes when you leave. Once again, it’s Saldana who’s given the most memorable and stand out song and dance routines, opening the film with a dazzling sequence from the courtroom to the city streets, a globetrotting romp to find a surgeon, and an angry but thrilling indictment of politicians and donors at a dinner. They’re all exciting inside “Emilia Perez,” but even as my mind conjures up the visuals of each set piece and seeing Saldana slay, I couldn’t recompose the tune to go along with them. It’s a hindrance that semi-plagues nearly every idea that starts and stops throughout the film.
Sidenote: It’s outright category fraud that Saldana is being entered in the Best Supporting Actress category. She is more of lead than Perez is in her own movie, and while Gascón is excellent and turns in a star making performance, “Emilia Perez” doesn’t work without Saldana’s performance. I get not wanting to split the vote in Lead, but c’mon. Flowers earned are flowers due here, Netflix.
It is a vibes check, operating on a singular wavelength that requires an investment and largely rewards its audience for taking the plunge. It’ll be very interesting to see how something so bold and strange and sometimes messy will play to the Netflix crowd. “Emilia Perez” is a risk even for a streaming service that takes a lot of them, and while its critical acclaim is bound to make a strong awards contender, this might be one where critics love and audiences do not. Depending on where you land in the first few minutes, “Emilia Perez” is either inescapable and entrancing or exhausting and grating. No one can really make that decision for you, and it is a film you just have to experience for yourself.
I found it entrancing and captivating, particularly from two leads for its first two acts and slightly less so in its conclusion. It’s worth the watch overall, and no matter where you land in the end it will be a film that breeds discussion and is hard to forget in the best of ways. There’s not a whole lot out there like “Emilia Perez” and its one of the few big swings this year that actually hits the ball this time.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Emilia Perez” is playing in select theaters November 1st, and will be available on Netflix November 13th. You can watch the trailer below.
