A One Mann’s Movies review of “Emilia Pérez” (2024) (From the 2024 London Film Festival).
“Emilia Perez’ is an interesting cross-genre busting film. I knew nothing about the film going in. And there is a really amazing reveal about the ‘request’ that the cartel boss makes in the first 10 minutes or so that came as a bombshell to me. I see that this plot-point is all over the IMDB description and the trailers, so you PROBABLY already know what it is. If you don’t, I think it is worth avoiding the spoilers (which will include this review if you read the “Plot Summary” below… You have been warned!)
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Emilia Pérez” Plot Summary:
Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldaña) is a hotshot junior lawyer in Mexico City with bigger ambitions. She is approached by a dangerous drug cartel leader, Santosa (Karla Sofía Gascón), who has a surprising confession: he is desperate to change sex and disappear from his old life forever.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong language, threat, injury detail”.)
Talent:
Starring: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir.
Directed by: Jacques Audiard.
Written by: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi & Léa Mysius. (Based on the novel by Boris Razon).
Running Time: 2h 10m.
“Emilia Pérez” Summary:
Positives:
- A brilliant performance from Zoe Saldaña, speaking her mother tongue.
- Innovative and energetic dance numbers and visuals.
- An interesting story.
Negatives:
- At 130 minutes, it sprawled its way to a scrappy ending.
Review of “Emilia Pérez”:
Lays its cards on the table early.
After a rather random opening title chant about scrap household appliances (I’m not kidding!) we see Castro (Zoe Saldaña) diligently preparing the defence case from her boss to deliver (badly!) in court. There is an energetic street ‘song’ and dance number as she does it that makes you go “Whoah – what ARE we watching here?” I say ‘song’ with rabbit ears, since nearly all of the musical numbers in the film are more like spoken chants of the dialogue…. all a bit Stephen Sondheim-ish. That’s not to say they are not effective. Some, like the “Papa” song, where a child sings that Emilia smells just like her long lost father Santosa, is very moving.
An indecent proposal
As I mentioned in the introduction, I went into this completely blind, so the proposal that Santosa makes to RIta is a complete bombshell! You could have knocked me down with a feather, since Santosa couldn’t look more like a rough and tough cartel leader: it’s an astonishing transformation. The actual offer is interesting, driven purely by Rita’s greed: it’s a contract where “To listen is to accept.”… but she listens.
Another curved ball at this point is to find that Santosa is married to Jessi (Selena Gomez, also talking and singing in fluent Spanish) with two small children.
This leads to a song where, I suspect, its the first time that “vaginoplasty” has ever been used in a song lyric! (We flit from Bangkok to Tel Aviv in this bit, for reasons I was unsure about!) There’s a nice line here where the chosen surgeon Dr. Wasserman (Mark Ivanir, doing even more of a ‘Rex Harrison’ style of performance) warns Rita of the danger she faces in helping Santosa (“If he’s a wolf, you’ll be his sheep”).
Touching Moments
The film has some moving moments:
- Rita being initially released from her contract and realising she is now a millionairess, scott free, bursts into tears;
- Rita meeting ‘Emilia’ for the first time;
- The setting-up of the ‘La Lucecita’ organisation (the song “We are Here” happens against a mass collage of faces on a black background – very effective); and
- The relationship between Emilia and Epifania (Adriana Paz) after Santosa has sung that he ‘never wanted to desire and never wanted to be desired’.
Strong performances
Zoe Saldaña has been in so many big-screen blockbusters that I forget what a talented actor she can be when put in the right film. She greatly impressed me here, both with her acting and with her lithe dance moves in the heavily choreographed and impressive numbers.
In support, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez are also terrific. This must have been a dream role for the 52-year-old Spanish trans actress Gascón, who lived as a man until she was 46.
Overblown and scrappy ending
But, and I note this seems to be a running theme for some of the films I’ve seen recently at the LFF, it overstayed its welcome for me with its 130 minute running time and a generally scrappy end to the story. Although, to be fair, my mood was lightened by a car crash scene that reminded me strongly of Bill Murray driving off the quarry in “Groundhog Day”: “He might be OK… no, probably not now!”
Summary Thoughts on “Emilia Pérez”
Like Santosa, this is a really interesting beast. A cross-genre busting effort that works more than it doesn’t work. I only wish the flabby elements had been tightened a bit, particularly in the 3rd act. But I think it’s well worth a watch though.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Emilia Pérez”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwH9f1jmkBc .
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