Emilia Pérez

Mexican lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) excels at getting defendants off the hook and, despite her own moral qualms about injustice, she ends up helping drug kingpin Manitas del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), who seeks a fresh start by transitioning into a female body. Years later, the two meet again and Emilia Pérez, as the criminal calls herself now, wants more: to actively undo some of the wrongs she was responsible for in her previous life.

As if the serpentine road across a number of plot points and genres weren’t outlandish enough, Jacques Audiard (The Sisters Brothers, Paris, 13^th District) stages his hotchpotch as a musical. The songs, however, feel skeleton: dialogue is lilted instead of spoken, whether it fits the rhythm of the underlying beat or not. The so-called lyrics include the most bizarre of words strung together and belted out loud, the topics ranging from microwaves down to vaginoplasty.

Only Saldaña and Selena Gomez, who portrays Manitas’s wife, possess voices that hold up in this experimental approach to song and dance. When the performance requires both acting and vocal skills, the number of people who meet the standard, however, is halved. In defence of the cast, it’s important to note that this film does not aim to replicate a conventional sense of reality. Therefore, the various affectations never truly feel out of place.

Produced by Saint Laurent, who also backed The Shrouds and Parthenope from the official selection in Cannes, the film boasts a dynamic vigour and a rich colour palette. These elements stand out in both the cinematography and the expressive costume design. This, combined with its queer themes, will undoubtedly make Emilia Pérez appealing to fans of camp aesthetics. Perhaps the target audience was always meant to be the Rocky Horror sing-along crowd. The feature aptly falls in line with the recent “vibe over plot” trend discussed in film forums. However, those looking for a compelling narrative from start to finish should steer clear.

Selina Sondermann

Emilia Pérez is released in UK cinemas on 25^th October and on Netflix on 13^th November 2024.

Watch the trailer for Emilia Pérez here: