Year of Release: 2024
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Ivanir, Eduardo Aladro, Emiliano Hasan, James Gerard
Genre: Crime, Musical
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Celebrated writer/producer/director Jacques Audiard is back, following his well received "Paris, 13th District". "Emilia Perez" which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize, and the best actress award for the trio of Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez, is his most recent directorial endeavor. The film follows the story of drug lord by the name of Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, who wants to go through gender-affirming surgery, and start a new life. In order to do so, he procures the help of a hard working lawyer by the name of Rita Mora Castro, who decides to support this transition, and help the drug lord sort both business and personal affairs, before starting a new life. Rita finds a surgical team to perform the surgery, and also goes through the process of relocating Manitas' wife Jessi to Switzerland, for their own safety. Manitas stages his own death, and eventually surfaces and begins a new life as Emilia Perez. A few years later while in London at a social function, Rita encounters Emilia and soon recognizes her. Emilia wants to get her children back, and Rita helps bring Jessi and the kids back to Mexico City, introducing Emilia as a distant cousin of Manitas, who is ready to help the family. While Jessi is initially against the move, she eventually caves in as she sees it as an opportunity to reconnect with a past flame. Emilia and Rita create a non-profit to assist people dealing with the aftermath of the cartel wars, and though Emilia finds love with Epifania, her life takes a turn as Jessi decides to marry her lover Gustavo.
I must admit it took me three attempts to get through this film. This feature isn't similar to the maligned "One from the Heart" from Francis Ford Coppola, nor the celebrated "Dancer in the Dark" from Lars Von Trier, though at times it tries to cover similar ground, in the sense of being a modern musical. However it does not have the aesthetic, romanticism, and vision of Coppola's film, nor the unbridled dramatic hues, and majestic soundtrack of Von Trier's beautiful feature. This film surprises in the sense that it plays much like a musical telenovela, without ever reaching the heights of drama (or comedy) that can occur on those. It's a film that doesn't really know where to stand in terms of style and tone: it does not have the Almodovar flair or point of view, the one that richly captures the interactions between women, and specific (and marginalized) communities, the same way it doesn't know how to capture the carnality and desire from these women. It's a film that tries to be many things, but one that doesn't feel authentic or truly invested in having a solid point of view, treating these characters and their tribulations as pale episodes of a pseudo-exotic telenovela. It never illustrates an emotionally satisfactory journey of its leads, much like Pedro Almodovar did with "All About My Mother" for instance, where even its supporting characters existed as women with motivations, flaws, and a rich interior life. Rita and Jessi have very little to do or very little opportunity to be more than their clichéd roles, whereas Emilia's story plays out as a quasi musical fantasy, but one where you never really understand much about what makes her take certain decisions. Personally I also found the "songs" from this film not very successful, and they didn't elevate any of the events that were taking place, or made the characters more interesting in the process. The highlight of this film is Zoe Saldana's performance, who goes all in, demonstrating vulnerability and strength, even if her part is somewhat limited in its arc. On the opposite spectrum, Selena Gomez is simply not very good (neither is her accent). The production team is solid, particularly Paul Guillaume's cinematography. This feature didn't work in my opinion.
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