Erin Maxwell
In an era when the cinematic landscape is laden with big-budget superhero pics, high-end horror outings, and animated sequels for established franchises, Emilia Pérez certainly stands out. The genre-bending, musical mayhem of Jacques Audiard’s ambitious saga is an operatic endeavor about a trio of women with ties to the Mexican drug cartel. Headlining Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez, the story of Emilia Pérez earns points for innovation as the Spanish-language film attempts to present the dangers of the Mexican drug trade against a backdrop of fantasy musical numbers in an effort to tell its tale of a drug kingpin’s transition journey.
Inspired by Boris Razon‘s novel Écoute, the musical centers on drug lord Manitas Del Monte (Gascón), a terrifying figure in the Mexican cartel who hires lawyer Rita (Saldaña) to discreetly help them undergo gender-affirming surgery so they can live a more authentic existence. Using their immense power and funds, Manitas puts a plan into action by moving wife Jessi (Gomez) and their children to Switzerland so they can transition in secret. Then, fake their death so they can begin anew. As a result, Rita becomes a wealthy woman while Jessi and her children are displaced to a foreign land.
Years later, Rita is reunited with Manitas, now Emilia, who wishes to reconnect with her discarded family. However, when a malcontented Jessi reconnects with a former love, Emilia soon discovers that real change is far more difficult.
A fascinating story told by unconventional means, the saga of Emilia Pérez can be mesmerizing thanks to the performances from the cast and the vision of its director. Saldaña and Gomez are given a chance to showcase skills they often don’t get to exhibit in Marvel movies or in an award-winning sitcom about the strange dangers of a rent-controlled building in New York. At times, both Saldaña and Gomez are electrifying, particularly when expressing their indignation for a culture festering with misogyny, brutality and corruption. But it is Gascón’s movie, as her star-making portrayal of both Manitas and Emilia is captivating, particularly when Emilia’s violent nature betrays her, erupting in savagery.
However, Emilia Pérez is at times an uneven endeavor. As a musical, some moments are true spectacles while others fail to resonate. Some scenes are made indelible due to the performances and footwork, such as Saldaña’s “El Mal,” a tune about the hypocrisy of a classist system, and Gomez’s “Bienvenida,” a song that projects the angst of a widow who is still under the control of a dominating husband. However, songs such as “La Vaginoplastia” and “Lady” are clear skips on the playlist while the forgettable love ballads fall a little flat.
And it is not just the songs that make the epic tale of Emilia a bit bumpy. The film occasionally meanders from its emotional center, inserting plot points that fail to add to the complex narrative in a significant way. The focus on Emilia’s charitable work as retribution for her past life at Manitas and her budding romance with Epifanía (Adriana Paz) tend to weigh down the already arduous tale.
Emilia Pérez is a musical journey of self-reflection and the complicated nature of transitioning set against a savage backdrop. Violence seems to linger in the background of every scene, creating an element of danger that hovers over each character. But while the premise and acting chops from the cast add to a bevy of memorable highlights, the story has a tendency to wander at times, focusing too keenly on narratives that add little to the journey. However, despite the hit-and-miss nature of the tunes and the occasional narrative issues, the performances, themes and originality of Emilia Pérez is an achievement that will no doubt appeal to folks looking for bold, new musical melodrama.