Emilia Pérez (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Cartel leader Emilia enlists Rita, an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake her death so that she can finally live authentically as her true self.

My Take – Though we have seen umpteen numbers of gritty films and a bunch of series about kingpins and Mexican drug cartels, who would have thought a musical could also be made about them?

Directed by the French auteur Jacques Audiard, best known for his delicately told stories about starting over, like 2015’s Dheepan, this mostly Spanish-language film, with little bit of English thrown in for good measure, is a bold and impressive vision that comes to life mainly due to its inventive approach to storytelling.

Acting as a massive blend of different genres: drama, comedy, romance, musical, and thriller, this latest Netflix release is a film so aesthetically daring and tonally scattered that it defies simple explanation. While it begins with a fairly simple premise, the film expands gradually into a number of interesting avenues and consistently overwhelms expectations, yet always remaining a wholly entertaining and emotional ride.

Sure, not everything works and there were a few moments where I wasn’t fully sold on the musical numbers, but most of the time, I was simply amazed by the craziness and ingenuity transpiring onscreen.

The film’s greatest asset is without a doubt its lack of inhibition. As its very appeal comes from its provocative nature, baiting people into forming strong opinions. Also, considering its ludicrous lyrics and disjointed tone, the film may not hold up well over time, but its energetic flair and unabashed audacity make it undeniably exciting to experience.

The story follows Rita (Zoe Saldaña), a hard working but underappreciated lawyer in Mexico who is unable to break through in her profession. But just when she has resigned herself to a life of obscurity, Rita is contacted and then picked up to meet notorious cartel kingpin Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón). Who offers her two million dollars and confides in her the desire to covertly undergo gender-affirming surgery, beginning a new and authentic life, and wants Rita to find the right doctor.

Also, as he will be leaving behind his beloved wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and their children, with a belief that he was killed in a gang war, Rita is tasked with making arrangements to settle his family in Switzerland for their safety.

However, four years later in London, Rita is once again approached by Manitas, who has now adopted the identity of Emilia Pérez, and expresses her desire to reunite with her children. Though, Rita brings Jessi and the children back to Mexico City to live with Emilia, introducing her as a distant cousin of Manitas who has volunteered to help raise the children, the two find themselves in a calling that allows them to use some of her drug millions to atone for her past.

What follows is an exceptionally imaginative and brave production that could very easily could gone so wrong. Present here is a sex change operation of a vicious gangster, a painful love story that cannot possibly work out, and violence, and to top it off the film is a musical.

This is therefore a unique achievement considering how combining so many things shouldn’t work together but somehow they do, all thanks to director Jacques Audiard‘s unique vision. The writing explores the characters journeys and its inventive style really adds a lot to the setting. While the film has many plot twists, director Audiard maintains firm control of the narrative.

Mainly, the film remains intriguing and fascinating throughout because it never loses sight of the human nature component. Though, the language and the music serve the emotionality of the narrative, it is the physicality of the characters that drives a more aggressive attitude of the film.

Each character is looking for their path forward, and their bodies tell the story as much as their words. Even when the film toys with its viewers’ expectations of a story about a transgender protagonist, rather than following in the footsteps of other notable projects about transition, it deliberately makes jarring, contradictory choices.

For example, even when Emilia finds a touching, redemptive romance with Epifanía (Adriana Paz), the widow of a cartel victim, but she also confesses to feeling as if she’s now “half him, half her,” referring to the years she spent presenting as Manitas, a man. When Emilia learns Jessi plans to get married to her former lover, Gustavo Brun (Édgar Ramírez), and move away with the children, she attacks her rather than revealing who she is, even the lower, huskier growl of Manitas emerges in their confrontation. But mostly, her attempts at freedom and redemption, lead only to more pain for her and those around her.

Of course, being a musical, there’s a lot of dancing and a lot of singing here. And when the singing is paired with Damien Jalet‘s choreography, the effect is thrilling. Although some of the songs don’t fully work.

It helps that the four women at the center: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz are all simply perfect and deserving of their combined award at the Cannes film festival for their performances. It’s truly excellent to see the much underrated Saldaña outside of blockbusters, allowing her a chance to showcase her wide range of skills, while Paz, Gascón and Gomez prove their individual prowess.

Édgar Ramírez too shows up in a small and manages to leave a mark, the same goes for Mark Ivanir. On the whole, ‘Emilia Pérez’ is a wild, insane roller coaster of a film that mixes in various genres to create an adrenaline-fueled spectacle.