Emilia Perez

The musical takes heavy inspiration from Almodovar

Jacques Audiard is a director who has used his abounding empathy to tell stories featuring disparate and diverse characters, from cowboys in 19th century American in The Sisters Brothers (2018) to Sri Lankan immigrants in Paris with Dheepan (2015). His latest takes a look at a group of women in the dangerous environment of modern day Mexico.

Emilia Perez (2024) is a musical, which begins following the disillusioned lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) who feels distraught having to defend slimy clients like domestic abusers. When taken to a cartel lord, Manitas del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascon), Rita accepts an unusual proposal to help him transition into becoming a woman, Emilia Perez, and to arrange for a safe haven for his wife (Selena Gomez) and kids.

Emilia Perez takes much inspiration from Pedro Almodovar, from the women empowerment to the humor and Sirkian aesthetic. This helps Perez with its dark subject matter, which deals with the missing victims of the cartel. The Almodovar influence is also seen in the narrative structure, where twists regarding who and what the film is about are brought with each act. The shift in narrative, however, sometimes takes itself too far, changing its story, setting, and stakes one to many times so that character journeys become inauthentic and the story loses its focus on the intriguing moral dilemma at its core.

Emilia Perez’s musical element has not been advertised much, yet many of the songs are catchy. Saldaña is particularly a standout with both catchy choreography and impressive singing. Audiard’s musical injection, however, can sometimes go overboard as well. Simple scenes that feature a minute’s worth of dialogue are extended into song without transitioning the dialogue into lyrics. This makes for actors uncomfortably delivering exposition with playful intonation instead. Other songs, however, burst from the screen and even move you to tears.

The largely female cast of Emilia Perez, which won the Palme D’Or collectively for Best Actress (like Almodovar’s Volver (2006) cast did), is deserving of praise. Saldaña is spectacular as our lead in the first act, donning a convincing Mexican accent (she is from Dominican-Boricua descent) and providing layers, dancing, and singing unlike I’ve seen from her. I only resented that she is sidelined for the second and third acts, Sofia Gascon is also a standout as the eponymous protagonist; this is her first film after transitioning herself, and she takes the screen by the storm. Sofia Gascon balances the duality of Emilia’s character, not relating to her gender, but to her sense of atonement and violent past. Gomez also delivers one of her most layered and complex roles, pushing the limits of what we’d been accustomed from her. However, the former Disney Channel star is uncomfortable with the Spanish dialogue her character delivers, not only failing to suppress an American accent, but also restraining herself from fully letting go and indulging in her character.

In the end, Emilia Perez is an empowering and enjoyable musical, which will particularly please Almodovar fans. Audiard brings together a stellar female cast, Saldaña and Sofia Gascon of whom elevate the narrative. The film, however, falters with overuse of musical numbers and too many melodramatic narrative changes, cheapening the character journeys.

7.4/10