Emilia Pérez ⭐⭐

I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Perhaps fuss is an understatement for the chaos surrounding Netflix’s Emilia Pérez. It’s lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón has given new meaning to the phrase hero to zero. She recently made history as the first openly trans individual nominated for an Academy Award in an actor category. Now, even Emilia Pérez Director Jacques Audiard has labeled her persona non grata after the resurfacing of old racist tweets.

But before all that there was an actual film, and I prefer to review these rather than morals (zero stars for Gascón on that front).

Set mainly in Mexico, the movie tells the story of Emilia Pérez, played by Gascón, a cartel boss who leaves her life of crime behind, faking her own death to transition into a woman. She employs struggling attorney Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña) to help her. However, the loneliness of existence without her family becomes overwhelming and Pérez reunites with her ex-wife (Selena Gomez) and children. But as I’m sure you can imagine, it isn’t so simple pretending to be fun old Aunty Pérez.

If I had one word to describe Emilia Pérez it would be unique, that much is unquestionable. I’m not sure when the absurdity of the genre-bending film first hit me. It could have been when a prothetics-covered Gascón, playing cartel boss Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, first explains that she wants to become a woman… in the form of song of course. But I think it really struck me when Castro finds herself in a plastic surgeon’s theater where a chorus of heavily-bandaged patients reveal the different surgeries they’ve had.

“Mammoplasty… Vaginoplasty… Rhinoplasty… Laryngoplasty!” All the while I tapped my feet to the catchy tune, utterly confused but definitely not bored.

Absurdity is not enough without subtance though, and this is something I feel the movie lacks. It almost entirely lost its hook for me once I was accustomed to the wackiness of the storyline. By the end of the film, the only thing keeping me hanging on was the performance of Selena Gomez, who is oustanding as Jessi Del Monte. Tormented by the loss of her former husband while exploring an old flame, Gomez puts on a performance more than worthy of the Oscars nomination of which she was snubbed.

Saldaña, however, did make the nominees list for Best Supporting Actress, and it is easy to see why. It could even be argued that she is the lead in Emilia Pérez given how pivotal her storyline is to the plot. She sings and dances her way through each scene with the desperation of a struggling lawyer, sick of the corrupt society she is a part of. She seeks to rid herself of financial burdens but is conflicted by the way she does so.

I suppose we should also talk about the star herself. Gascón gives an impressive performance, including several particularly memorable moments. The most poignant for me is a quiet scene in which her daughter discovers that Pérez smells just like her deceased father (funny that). What proceeds is the most beautiful song of the film, a sweet number listing the different scents her father gave off. Meanwhile, Gascón portrays the emotion her daughter’s words evoke perfectly. She can never truly be that father to her daughter again, and it breaks her heart.

Much like it’s star’s derailed Oscars campaign, Emilia Pérez loses steam. It’s unique storyline could have resulted in a great movie with the right ingredients. But it lacked a certain level of connection and depth. It will likely be the last time Gascón appears in any major film though, so it will be one for the history books regardless – but perhaps not for the best reasons.

Two stars.