Jacques Audiard has never been a filmmaker to play it safe. But the director of A Prophet (2009), which won the Grand Prix, Rust and Bone (2012), and the Palme d’Or-winning Dheepan (2015), has truly outdone himself with Emilia Pérez, a musical thriller starring Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, and Karla Sofía Gascón about second chances, gender reassignment, and the brutal violence of Mexican drug cartels.
With all this, the film became the frontrunner of the competition at this 77th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night, May 18th, following warm press and gala screenings.
What is the story of Emilia Pérez?
Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer who specializes in getting guilty people out of jail. She’s brilliant but never recognized by her incompetent boss. One day, she gets a mysterious call. After the scare of being blindfolded, she meets Manitas del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), the leader of a drug trafficking cartel who makes an unusual request: Rita will get rich if she helps him through gender reassignment surgery. This is how Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón) is born.
Years later, Emilia seeks out Rita again because she misses the children she had with Jessi (Selena Gomez) – the family was shipped off to Switzerland after Manitas faked his own death.
The boys and Jessi come back to live in Mexico City, where Emilia and Rita begin helping the families of those who have disappeared in the drug war, estimated to be over 100,000 people.
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Emilia Pérez Review: A genre-blending film focused on the feminine
Audiard makes a film about the violence of the drug trade that is entirely focused on the feminine – male roles are rare and brief, whether it’s Gustavo (Édgar Ramirez), Jessi’s new boyfriend, or Dr. Wasserman (Mark Ivanir), who is responsible for Manitas’s surgeries.
The songs composed by Camille and Clément Ducol blend styles, offering social critique, bringing sweetness and charm, and aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of the ridiculous.
Emilia Pérez also isn’t afraid to hop between genres: thriller, musical, melodrama, noir, social realism, telenovela, all to tell a story about characters seeking redemption.
With so many formal and thematic risks, the film gives its actresses room to shine. Zoe Saldaña has a rare opportunity in her career, which is marked by action films. She sings, dances, embraces her Latina roots, excels in the drama and the more tender moments. And Karla Sofía Gascón shines in the dual role of Manitas and Emilia, a character trying to save her soul, without knowing if it’s even possible.
She balances with delicacy between the joy of finally living her truth and the sadness of hiding who she is from her children. Even if Emilia Pérez doesn’t take home the top prizes, Karla Sofía Gascón is a strong contender to become the first trans woman to win the Best Actress prize at Cannes.
