Acclaimed French auteur Jacques Audiard has never been one to shy away from reinvention – both in his eclectic filmography and the shapeshifting identities of his protagonists. But with his latest film, the Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez, he takes perhaps the boldest gamble of his storied career, blending the grit of a Mexican cartel thriller with the glitz of a transgender empowerment tale, all tied together with endearingly shoddy song-and-dance numbers. The result is a trashy, flamboyant potpourri that shouldn’t work on paper, but on screen proves riotously entertaining, anchored by standout performances from Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez.
From Manitas to Emilia: A Transition Tale
When we first meet Emilia, played by the magnetic Gascón, she’s not Emilia at all, but rather Manitas Del Monte – a notorious male cartel boss in a hyper-macho world of drugs, muscles, and fear. But Manitas soon realizes that he was born into the wrong body and the wrong life. Determined to transition in every sense, he enlists the brilliant lawyer Rita, a fierce Saldaña, to engineer his disappearance, orchestrate gender reassignment surgery, and relocate his wife Jessi (a revelatory Gomez) and kids to safety.
As Manitas becomes Emilia, so too does the film transition from gritty crime saga to glitzy melodrama to Almodóvarian soap opera – a metamorphosis made possible only through the magic of musicals. While the song-and-dance numbers won’t be winning any awards, their unpolished charm serves as a crucial portal to suspended disbelief.
A Trio of Powerhouse Performances
Holding together this genre-fluid madness is a trifecta of sensational star turns. Gascón, an accomplished trans actress, imbues Emilia with both feline grace and leonine ferocity, stalking through each scene with immaculately manicured magnetism. Saldaña’s musical sequences crackle with barely contained rage even as she belts and shimmies. And Gomez is a bratty, bored trophy wife transformed into a force of nature as she gets a taste of true fulfillment. The interplay of these three women drives the deliriously soapy drama, their fire never dimming even as the film veers into the absurd.
Pulp, Camp, and Cartel Violence
Where Emilia Pérez stumbles is in its handling of the sobering realities that inspired it. The film incorporates elements of the tragic epidemic of cartel-related disappearances in Mexico, which have claimed over 100,000 victims since the 1960s. But Audiard’s treatment often borders on glib, with the fantasy and camp threatening to trivialize real suffering. Shot entirely on French soundstages with no Mexican actors in principal roles, the movie maintains a distinct remove from the on-the-ground realities of its purported setting.
According to a close source, a movie this wildly outlandish, with this many tonal shifts, could only work as a musical.
And perhaps that’s for the best. Emilia Pérez is so far removed from the grim verité of other films tackling cartel violence, so deep in its own fabulous metaverse, that to strive for documentary realism would ring false. This is a riotous, ridiculous romp, oozing with style and headlined by three go-for-broke performances from Gascón, Saldaña, and Gomez. It’s certainly not here to say anything profound about transitioning, literal or figurative. But what it has to show us – via sequins, spotlights, and the occasional narcocorrido – is a hysteria-inducing hoot.
In a way, the film is perfectly emblematic of Audiard’s own late-career transition from austere French realist to flamboyant genre anarchist. Like Emilia herself, he’s strutting into new territory, a fabulous fugitive from expectation. And like Emilia’s story, it’s all a bit much, a bit manic, and perhaps not fully baked. But dammit if it isn’t a thrill to watch them work it out – one glorious, ungainly dance step at a time.
The Verdict
Emilia Pérez is a magnificent, messy creature – part cartel thriller, part trans coming-of-age tale, part stylized musical extravaganza. It’s gaudy, it’s gritty, it’s unapologetically excessive. And it’s elevated to must-see status by the trifecta of Gascón, Saldaña, and Gomez, who sink their teeth into this meaty pulp with euphoric abandon. Audiard’s gamble may not entirely pay off, but the ride is a riotous romp well worth the price of admission.
- Captivating performances from Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez
- Daring genre blending from art house to musical to melodrama
- Striking visuals and flamboyant style
- Provocative yet empowering exploration of trans identity
Emilia Pérez twirls into select cinemas and Netflix on November 13. Buckle up and prepare for the year’s wildest ride – it’s guaranteed to be unlike anything you’ve seen before.
