Delightful, Unorthodox & Dominating
Emilia Perez shouldn’t work. It almost doesn’t. It’s already hard enough for most audiences to take musicals seriously. While none of the songs ever become too cheesy, some are much more memorable than others. The genuine love and passion a fully committed cast feels make it so that none of these readers, in the long run. No amount of preparation can truly prepare audiences for Jacques Audiard’s unorthodox fantasia of rebirth and female solidarity. Audiences won’t “buy” Emilia Perez, they’ll “bend”. They’ll lean into the many temptations it provides… and just when they feel themselves about to fall too far over the edge, they suddenly stop in a perfectly unified position where their vision harbors no uncertainty over the majesty of what they are seeing.
Emilia Perez follows the odyssey of Mexican drug cartel leader Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascon) who seeks help from a successful but undervalued lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana) to help fake her death so she can undergo sexual reassignment surgery and become the woman she’s always felt herself inside. Rita successfully helps Manitas who transitions into “Emilia Perez” and after faking her death, helps her wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and two kids start a new life in Switzerland with new identities.
Living as her true self does not shelter Emilia from the loneliness she feels without her family a few years later, Emilia seeks out Rita who is now living in London to make arrangements for Jessi and the kids to move back to Mexico. Emilia presents herself as a distant cousin of Manitas and despite reservations from Jessi, moves back and forms a most unconventional family. Emilia and Rita also develop a unique and unexpected friendship when they decide to start a nonprofit for victims of families Manitas has murdered over many years. Emilia begins a romance with Epifana (Adriana Paz), a woman who finds great relief from discovering her abusive husband is among the murdered victims. Meanwhile, Jessi rekindles with Gustavo (Edgar Ramirez), her lover for a few years when she and Emilia were married.
Jessi comes home glowing and happy from a night out with Gustavo and she and Emilia have wine on the couch and discuss their marriage (without Jessi knowing who she’s really talking to). It’s an exceptional beautiful scene with a serious tone and superb acting from Gascon and Gomez. Emilia Perez is certainly stronger in the second half but spellbinding.
The fact that it’s a musical will indeed present a problem to many viewers because it’s a genre that simply isn’t for everyone, but I do think that fans of serious musicals will delight in Emilia Perez. There are numerous scenes and numbers that are questionable at first glance but once you realize “Ok, so this is what we’re doing then.” everything falls into place.
Emilia Perez was a much more serious film than I anticipated. The trauma and harsh realities of life are severe enough to make one wish themselves away to another place entirely and musicals are good ways of showing that. It just doesn’t happen very often. Men are trained by society to be so harmful in a multitude of ways and Emilia cannot simply shake off what she’s been taught because she’s finally transitioned. Emilia Perez shows this without demonizing or villainizing her, opting instead to showcase a fully complex human trying to do better with her freedom and identity, and the women in her life are a grounding factor for that.
Jessi’s unexpected engagement with Gustavo sparks outrage from Emilia upon discovering Jessi plans to take the kids and leave. She responds impulsively by cutting off Jessi financially leading to an act of desperation that will bring everything crashing down.
Emilia Perez is adapted from an opera Audiard wrote but its sense of originality is illuminating and raw. Emilia Perez is among the best films of the year and while it won’t be for everyone, it’s a film America desperately needs right now. It’s vibrant, passionate, and unapologetically comfortable in its skin. Gascon, Saldana, Gomez & Paz are magnetic and dominating in their Cannes award-winning performance for Best Actress. They all won as a group and I’m so excited to see the Oscars surely celebrate the divinity of this wonderful film and see Gascon make trailblazing history. This is the case with every great film... Emilia Perez’s success will lie not in audiences wanting to see it but to see it again. Netflix’s distribution was no accident and I’ll be delighted to acquire further viewing.
Casariego, Katia. “Emilia Pérez - Revolutionary.” Revolutionary, 4 Sept. 2024, www.revolutionary.es/emilia-perez/. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
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