EMILIA PÉREZ is a magnificent, genre-bending thrill ride that you have never seen before and never will see again. Part musical-romance, part crime-drama, part action-thriller, it transcends the typical movie construct, breathing a fresh burst of excitement into the way we think about film… and how often can we say a movie does that? Through phenomenal performances from the female-led ensemble cast and writer/director Jacques Audiard’s mesmerizing vision, this is one of the year’s best and the frontrunner for Best Picture this award season.
If I can describe this film in one word, it is vibrant. It uses brilliantly-choreographed musical numbers to convey big themes of self-identity, remorse, atonement, and grief. Shot predominantly in Spanish, the film follows Rita (Zoe Saldaña), a tireless defense attorney who is becoming disillusioned with her work keeping criminals out of prison in Mexico City. Still, Rita’s reputation precedes her and murderous cartel boss Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) hires her to help fake his death, protect his wife (Selena Gomez) and kids, and help transition to live life as his true self, Emilia Pérez.
And this is only the first twenty minutes of the film! I am stopping here because I want everyone to go into this film knowing as little as possible so you can have the full sensory overload experience that I did on my first viewing; I didn’t even know it was a musical. From each beat in each scene, it is never clear where the plot is going… which is a welcomed change from the formulaic content that Hollywood is so quick to churn out. By the end of the film, I can guarantee you will feel out of breath from everything you experienced. And having already seen the film a second time, I think each viewing will get more compelling.
More than anything, I love that EMILIA PÉREZ is a celebration of women, giving ample space for each character to find her freedom outside of forced societal boundaries. It’s no wonder the trio of women were awarded the best actress award at Cannes this year. Zoe Saldaña is an absolute force of nature, giving the best performance of her career and proving she is a triple threat in this industry. But the film lives and dies with Karla Sofía Gascón, who masterfully plays two roles in a character arc that is the emotional center of the film! To say this performance is bold and brave is an understatement. Saldaña and Gascón’s chemistry sizzles off the screen; my favorite musical number is their face-to-face reunion in London, shot beautifully with the rest of the world falling away and the camera just focusing on the two of them. Gomez is like a live wire, unpredictable and raw; she is the catalyst for the action in many scenes and her songs are some of the best in the film.
The main message in EMILIA PÉREZ is one of truth. I love that once Emilia becomes her authentic self, the film doesn’t continue to harp on her transition or gender. Emilia is Emilia, a reformed woman looking to right her wrongs and live the life she was always meant to, with those she loves the most. I also really appreciated that the film highlights the plight of families trying to find the tens of thousands of missing people whose murders have been hidden across Latin America. Emilia tries to make amends for her past deeds by uncovering the truth of their disappearances, and it’s really innovative the way Audiard interweaves these stories.
When we start getting to award season, there are plenty of Oscar bait movies that follow the same boring playbook centered around stuffy, predictable plots that you’ve seen a million times. But that is not EMILIA PÉREZ, which literally dances to the beat of its own drum and throws predictability out the window. I don’t want to belabor this point, but it’s hard to remember any other film in recent memory that is so original, it causes you to reassess how you categorize and view movies. And doesn’t that deserve to be celebrated?
My Review: A