The leader of a drug cartel begins the journey to transition in Emilia Pérez. She’s going to need a talented attorney, a ton of money, and a convincing way to end her old life. But some things are just too hard to leave behind. Can reconnecting with her family bring her the solace she longs for or dig up the secrets she’s hidden so well?
Emilia Pérez
Jacques Audiard (director and writer), Paul Guilhaume (cinematography), Juliette Welfling (editor)
Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir (cast)
September 9, 2024 (TIFF)
I watched Emilia Pérez after the film had been announced as runner-up for the People’s Choice Awards at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film had already won the Jury Prize and the ensemble cast prize at Cannes. I obviously had to watch this film.
Everything about Emilia Pérez felt like a surprise to me. I knew it was a musical, but I didn’t expect the songs to be a mix of dialogue and music, often with spoken dialogue interjecting into the musical arrangement. I also didn’t expect songs to encapsulate such varied subject matter, like the various procedures required for gender affirmation surgery, or the many crimes of people in political power — the latter of which turned out to be an absolute bop.
I was also aware the film had three female leads, but I could never have expected such a diverse array of story arcs for the characters. Part of that lack of expectation is my own cynicism. We’re in 2024, and I still find myself wanting better female characters in films. Emilia Pérez more than delivers on three multi-layered and believable characters. Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldaña) is an attorney at the top of her game but is stuck doing all the work as her incompetent boss gets the glory. She also hates that her job requires her to defend the worst people. The lack of money is also a sore spot for her. Rita wants to do work that helps people; she wants a meaningful existence. But she also wants some damn money (don’t we all?). Rita’s situation is painfully familiar—how many of us are doing jobs that don’t lend meaning to our lives because we need to pay the bills?
Rita’s unlikely salvation comes in the form of Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), a powerful drug cartel leader. While pursuing her transition, Del Monte needs a lawyer who will find the best surgeons to complete the gender-affirmation surgery but also help ensure Manitas is no more. This entails finding a safe home for her wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), and their two sons. Money is quite literally not a question. How can Rita refuse?
Once the deed is done, Manitas is gone, and Emilia Pérez begins a new life. This was the biggest and best surprise of the film. I wish I’d been able to attend a screening where the cast and crew spoke about the making of this film because I want to know how they made it. On screen, Manitas is a heavily-tattooed, jowly man with grills for teeth. Emilia Pérez is an elegant woman with clear skin, tight features, and a kind demeanor. Gascón played both characters, but how did they achieve the stark effect? Were those prosthetics she was wearing? Because wow, I’ve never seen a character transition on-screen as effectively since Laverne Cox and her twin brother played her character on Orange is the New Black. This is how you do a gender transition storyline with transgender actors. Suck it, Eddie Redmayne!
I need to gush about Gascón, because oh my goodness, is she incredible. First, as Manitas, she is terrifying. An imposing figure both in frame and bearing with a baritone voice that never rises but always threatens. Manitas cuts a chilling figure, and there is no way for the audience to imagine what the drug lord’s life will be once Emilia emerges. But once the figurative dust behind Manitas settles, Emilia proves herself to be a whole new person. She wants no part of the drug deals and violence of her old life. In fact, when a woman approaches her looking for her lost son, Emilia asks Rita to help her find the boy, or rather, his remains. The two of them end up starting an NGO dedicated to finding missing people. Where Manitas was a monster, Emilia is a guardian angel. She’s also a more present parental figure than Manitas had ever been. It all comes down to one thing—Emilia has been aching to be free her entire life, but she was trapped. Without the burdens of the body she never asked for, her soul is free to be her true self. And that true self wants to help people any way she can.
Every moment Gascón was on-screen, my eyes were riveted by her. She imbues Emilia with sweetness and kindness while maintaining some of the darker aspects of Manitas’ personality. With Emilia, we get a character who’s instantly likeable but is never too far from the horrors she inflicted in her past. Also, the woman can sing! What a voice. Our first introduction to Manitas has him monologuing to a beat. It took me a moment to realise that the monologue was a song, sung almost like slam poetry or rap. As Emilia, Gascón has a couple of songs, much more sentimental and romantic. Even the songs the character had were different pre- and post- transition. How clever. Hats off to the rest of the cast for knowing when to step back because in North America, Saldaña and Gomez are much bigger names. But Emilia Pérez is Gascón’s film. Dare I hope that the Oscars will recognize her?
One small thing I loved in the film was the character of Epifanía (Adriana Paz). Late in the story, Emilia falls in love with a visitor to the NGO, Epifanía. The love story is adorable, and the two actors have immediate chemistry. But I love that Emilia gets a beautiful grey-haired girlfriend instead of some pretty young thing. It’s such a small detail, but a queer love story with two people finding romance later in life made my heart swell.
The final piece of the puzzle is Jessi, Manitas’ wife, who Emilia brings to live with her. To keep her identity a secret, Emilia can’t reveal who she was to Jessi. Again, Emilia Pérez surprised me because Jessi ends up being a crucial part of the plot. The ones closest to you can hurt you the most. Forget the drug deals, the missing people, the larger problems in life; the film hones in on how it’s the small, personal parts of our lives that cause the most damage. Gomez brings her singing and dancing background to a couple of hip-swaying tunes while also playing the gangster’s moll with panache. I enjoyed her performance.
The only part of this film I wasn’t happy about was the ending. I had hoped things would take a different turn for the characters. Emilia Pérez suggests with its ending that the past always catches up to you. But I’m not sure that’s fair to the story or to these characters. Most of them demonstrated a need for change that the film ultimately refused to reward. It was still an exciting ending though.
Emilia Pérez was an excellent film for me to end my TIFF 2024 on. I now wish the film had won the People’s Choice Award, but by the time of my packed screening, the ticket sales had already been counted. Runner-up is good, but this was a masterfully crafted film with elegant performances and a story that kept you guessing at every turn. Netflix has already scooped the film up so get those viewing numbers in!
