FOR THE LOVE OF.... : My Review of Jacques Audiard's EMILIA PEREZ

When I was a kid, I developed a rather strong fascination with the 1970s sitcom Soap, which was the brainchild of writer Susan Harris who would go on to create the legendary sitcom The Golden Girls. Harris' goal was to write a sitcom that would parody that of daytime soap operas. One of the most memorable aspects of this show was that a young Billy Crystal played one of the first prominent gay characters on network TV. 

His Jody begins the series as a gay man with very effeminate touches but as the series progresses, they keep forcing him into a path of him having relationships with women and losing those surface level effeminate elements (something that would also occur with the gay character of Steven Carrington on Dynasty). 

However, I bring the character up in particular because in the second episode of the series, Jody announces to his mother Mary (while wearing one of her dresses) that he intends to get a sex change because he always felt like a woman. We soon find out after that one of the reasons he is hopeful for this surgery is that he wants to please his secret lover, Dennis, who is a married Quarterback in the closet.

Eventually, Dennis reveals that even with the goal of Jody having this operation, it isn't really enough, and he ends their relationship. Jody decides to commit suicide by taking pills, though is saved in time thanks to the wise words of his roommate in the hospital. 

After this...the trans element is never discussed again.

For the 1970s, this was certainly the kind of topic not often seen on TV...though more dramatic shows, like Medical Center, tackled the topic when Robert Reed (most famous as playing Mike Brady) played a man looking to transition into being a woman...but a lot of this content plays as dated by today's standards. 

I have had a history with the trans community having dated both trans women and trans men, including having a trans boyfriend now. I am not claiming to be an expert on every aspect of their lifestyles and struggles, but I am certainly an ally.

When I first heard of the film Emilia Perez back when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, all of it sounded very intriguing: Jacques Audiard, the rather blunt French filmmaker made a musical set in Mexico about a trans drug cartel leader featuring the likes actresses such as Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez? 

And then the four leading ladies (Saldana/Gomez/Karla Sofia Gascon/Adriana Paz) all jointly won the Best Actress prize at the festival. Buzz was swirling rather intensely...seemingly on par with the American film that won the prestigious Palme D'or: Sean Baker's Anora. 

Netflix acquired Emilia Perez and it seemed like all was surging towards it being a beloved contender. Even now as I write this, the film has been pretty embraced by the industry and is expected to get several Oscar nominations...possibly entering the double digits. 

But then...something happened...

As more people began watching it, the response seemed far more vitriolic. As I write this, the film has a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. To put that into perspective, some of the more hated Best Picture wins of the last 20 years: Crash and Green Book have 74 and 77% percent respectively. 

But if you were to look on the highly popular film app Letterboxd which has film fanatics rank films on a 5-star scale, Green Book has a rather respectful 3.8; Crash has a lesser 3.0

Emilia Perez? 

2.7!!!!

Having set up all this preamble, where do I stand on Emilia Perez?

Oh, it's trash. This movie is absolute TRASH. 

As a musical, it is trash. As a script, it is trash. As a means to try to create a dialogue around the trans experience, it is trash. 

The film's ONLY redeemable qualities would come from the performances, particularly that of Zoe Saldana, who is yet another egregious example of a performer being campaigned in Supporting when she is not only a lead in the film, but I would argue she is THE lead in the film. 

Saldana plays Rita, an overworked Mexico City lawyer who gets kidnapped and taken to meet Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascon), a very powerful drug cartel leader who is looking to fake his death, undergo gender-affirming surgery, and assume a new life...even though it would mean abandoning his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and two kids. 

We are then swept up in the plotting so quickly that it is hard to even comprehend or believe all of the story beats...not to mention the absolute disaster of a song "La vaginoplastia", that would be funny if it also weren't so crude and ill advised.

When the film advances 4 years into the future, Rita is in London and gets approached by Manitas, now going by the name Emilia Perez. She has a burning desire to return to see Jessi and the children, so Rita agrees to bring her home as a distant cousin of Manitas who agreed to help with the children. 

Jessi and the kids had relocated to Switzerland following the "death" of Manitas and objects to this arrangement but mostly accepts so she can return to Mexico to reunite with Gustavo, a former lover she had seen while married to Manitas/Emilia. 

As I stated, the performances are what help keep the film a tad bearable. I do feel Saldana is worthy of the praise she is receiving, but it is not a supporting performance. I do understand the value of honoring a trans actress with an Oscar nomination and I would love to see that happen, but I also feel like we have other stronger performances this year. I do think if Gascon gets in, it would be deserving but the Actress category is so strong, I would love to see some of the more "on the brink" contenders get in.

I do feel like a nomination for Selena Gomez would be too much. While she does show promise, I also feel like she is the greenest of the ensemble...and not to mention, her Spanish speaking doesn't come across as that believable. Not that I am some expert on the subject, but living in New York, I do hear the language spoken quite often.

There is a lot I can say about Emilia Perez. I feel like I kept distracting myself talking about past experiences, but the reason I brought those up is that I feel like the trans representation in this film is rather offensive. 

I appreciate giving Gascon this kind of platform, but as a character, Emilia is not exactly deep. We got one moment where we see her admiring herself post-surgery...but beyond that, we learn next-to-nothing but her existence as a woman. Everything about her is only through her past life under her now dead name. The whole thing has this permeating stench of transphobia told from the point of view of a white cis French man giving us a caricature campy looking Mexico drenched in stereotypes. The film even opens randomly on a mariachi band with glowing sombrero hats to show us "Hey! We are south of the border!".

The fact that this film even has a path to the Best Picture win is positively atrocious and shameful. This would easily become the worst Best Picture winner since Crash. It almost makes me want to go apologize to the people who made Green Book. It also makes me long for something banal and predictable like Coda. 

Nearly every aspect of Emilia Perez leaves me overwhelmed in the worst way. For a film getting this kind of vitriol, I expected to walk away hoping to find something to defend it beyond the performances, but I just can't. It is so far removed from the trans experience that even the basic concept of a trans woman smelling like a man is an egregious error as her taking HRT would prevent such a thing.

Emilia Perez is a prime example of a movie that wants to make us feel but only aims for the lowest common denominator. We watch scene by scene pass by and it is as if most of these characters are about as skin deep is a thin piece of wet paper.

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EMILIA PEREZ

Rating: 3/10