If you are not done with musicals, they are not done with you. French director Jacques Audiard’s first Spanish speaking film, “Emilia Pérez” (2024), is a loose adaptation of Boris Razon’s 2018 novel, “Ecouté.” Set predominantly in Mexico, Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascon), the head of a cartel, hires Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldana), a talented lawyer who does not reap the rewards of her hard work, to help him to find a surgeon willing to operate so Manitas can transition into a woman, create a new identity and keep his wife, Jessi, Jessica Del Monte (Selena Gomez), and sons safe. Four years later, Emilia seeks Rita’s help again because she cannot live without her family, and Rita finds a way to make that happen. Can she have it all?
While art has no borders, and possessing an imagination means the ability to transcend the limitations of a single life, it is important to note that there are inherent dangers when people represented onscreen are not represented behind the camera regardless of whatever Matt Damon may say. While Gascon, who was born in Madrid, is a naturalized Mexican citizen, there are no indigenous Mexicans in a film that is supposed to take place in Mexico. “Emilia Pérez” depicts life in that country in ways that can be considered a stereotype: violent and corrupt. Let’s hope that Mexican critics’ voices get elevated to offer insight into how they feel about outsiders’ depiction of their country because while the filmmakers’ intent may be good, the impact may not be.
In addition, at a time when trans filmmakers are moving away from early narratives of struggling to establish identity, and tropes about the evil queer coded character or tragic queer person are at least being flagged, the titular character can seem like a step back, especially since Audiard presents as a cis man. Again, let’s elevate trans movie reviewers’ voices because they are not a monolith. Obviously Gascon, a trans actor, cosigned it when she took the role, but it does not mean that it is devoid of problems.
It is always thrilling to see an American actor perform in a different language. While Saldana and Gomez possibly come from Spanish speaking languages, it is one thing to speak it among family and friends, and another to do so professionally while singing and acting. Saldana has been working predominantly working on Marvel Cinematic Universe movies or television, so it is nice to see her stretch herself in a unique role. The trained dancer is at ease with the physical demands of playing Rita. In a musical, a voice must convey emotions over sounding like a Broadway star, and her voice is good enough. Despite that, perhaps some lyrics and choreography should have been revised to reflect that Saldana was cast in the role since Rita complains about her fat ass, and Helen Mirren was not available to suddenly provide narration, the equivalent of a sarcastic eyeroll, to the audience as she did for Margot Robbie in “Barbie” (2023).
To be clear, Rita is not the main character, but the audience surrogate who functions as an entry point to the elite and underground world. Rita does not let her conscience get in the way of her job, but it bothers her all the same. She wants a family, but work means that she has no time to pursue one. She lives for work but feels as if the return on her sweat equity is disproportionately small. The real main character is Emilia, and Gascon nails the role as someone trying to become her true self and has not figured out which of her fungible skills from her prior life can translate and survive. Unlike Saldana, Gomez and many Americans, sometimes overt feminine sexuality is so over-the-top that it exhibits itself in male exhibitionist ways that work, but look forced and do not seem organic. Spanish actors are deft at exuding femininity without exaggeration and subtlety so watching Gascon navigate and balance her innate power and swagger with an innate elegance and confidence that existed for a shorter span than the implicitly forced machismo drag of a lifetime. Gascon also has the best voice, which is surprising because Gomez, who is a professional singer and actor, should have the advantage. While no one is going to leave “Emilia Pérez” foaming at the mouth to get the soundtrack and play it on repeat, Gascon’s songs are the ones that feel sincere and full, especially a duet between Emilia and Epifania (Adriana Paz). It feels like a missed opportunity that they did not have many scenes together, but the most hilarious one is when they reveal what to each other the contents of their respective pockets and purses. It is little moments like that and Audiard’s ability to recognize the barriers that Black women attorneys and trans women face that earns him good will except all these characters are a little too comfortable coloring outside the lines.
Jessi feels the most like an archetype as the hot to trot wife who simultaneously is hard to satisfy, is completely obedient and faithful to her husband in spirit and is totally comfortable cheating on him when he was alive. Once her husband died, and his enemies are no longer hunting her down, she is eager to reignite a relationship with Gustavo (an under-utilized Edgar Ramirez). Initially “Emilia Pérez” is very French, and it seems as if Jessi’s sexual escapades won’t upset the apple cart, but the inherent tension is that as reformed and repentant as Emilia is, she also did not become the most feared and successful head of a drug cartel by looking pretty, and that part of herself does not go away. There will be a lot of disagreement over how Audiard and Gascon decide to portray that shadow side of Emilia.
“Emilia Pérez” is ultimately about three women with dreams that they would like to fulfill before they die, and the resolution is aligned with films such as “Driving Madeleine” (2022) and “Titane” (2021) where the most volatile characters must sacrifice and suffer so the dream of a supporting, most mainstream character can come true. French filmmakers seem to love to tie their characters up in knots before giving one a happy ending.
There is an overall utopian impulse in the trajectory of the film. Emilia finds a way to make the lion and the lamb lie together by finding a way to make drug cartel associates help those they harmed. At the beginning, when Emilia was still appearing as Manitas, the ending is obvious, but this heal the world impulse sealed the deal. Emilia becomes like a heroine in an opera. Regardless of whether it was intentional, it felt as if Rita was on a road to disillusionment or at least rebellion with Emilia as she was falling back into a dynamic that she had at the top of the movie with her former boss as a peon in a law firm, but it goes no further than the gala, and it is a missed opportunity to explore the complexity of Emilia’s past and present.
Love or hate “Emilia Pérez,” it is not boring, but it will probably have a polarizing reaction depending on the moviegoer’s willingness to just go on the ride. If you cannot give up control, it is going to be an aggravating journey. While not as sprawling as “Megalopolis” (2024), the film shares similar narrative swaths that would benefit from more blending and collaboration so Audiard could understand how an audience could receive it.
