Emilia Pérez - is a 2024 French Spanish-language musical crime comedy film written and directed by Jacques Audiard. 

The French production is based on Audiard's opera libretto of the same name, which was in turn loosely adapted from Boris Razon's 2018 novel Écoute. The film stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir, and Édgar Ramírez.

The film follows a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) who enlists a lawyer (Saldaña) to help the leader disappear by transitioning into a woman. Its original songs were written by Camille, while its original score was provided by Clément Ducol. Filming took place from May to July 2023 in Île-de-France. The choreographic sections of the film are designed by Damien Jalet.

Emilia Pérez polarized critics internationally. In Europe, it received praise for its lead performances, themes, ambition as well as Audiard's directing and Camille's score. In contrast, it was poorly received in Mexico, where the film takes place, with many criticizing the film's cultural representation, stereotypes, Spanish dialogue, and lyrics. It was also criticized by some LGBTQ advocacy groups for its portrayal of gender transition.

The film had its world premiere on 18 May 2024 at the main competition of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, winning the Jury Prize and the Best Actress award for its female ensemble. It was theatrically released by Pathé in France on 21 August 2024. It became the second most-nominated film in Golden Globe history with ten nominations at the 82nd ceremony, winning four, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (the first time a non-English-language film won the category) and Best Foreign Language Film, while Gascón became the first trans woman to be nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Additionally, it was named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by the American Film Institute, and was selected as the French entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.

Plot

Rita Mora Castro, an underappreciated lawyer in Mexico, writes the defense for a murder case involving a prominent media figure's wife, going against her conscience to argue the death as a suicide ("El alegato"). After winning the case, Rita receives an anonymous call with a mysterious but lucrative offer. Reflecting on her discontent, Rita agrees to a meeting ("Todo y nada"). The client, revealed to be cartel kingpin Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, expresses desire to covertly undergo gender-affirming surgery, beginning a new and authentic life ("El encuentro").

After meeting with doctors in Bangkok ("La vaginoplastia") and Tel Aviv ("Lady"), Rita finds a surgeon who agrees to perform the procedure after hearing Manitas' recollections of gender dysphoria during childhood ("Deseo"). Following the procedure, Manitas' children and wife, Jessi, are relocated to Switzerland for their safety; Rita receives an exorbitant sum of money, while Manitas stages a fake death and begins a new life as Emilia Pérez.

Four years later in London, Rita encounters Emilia, who wants to reunite with her children ("Por casualidad"). Rita brings Jessi and the children back to Mexico City to live with Emilia, introducing her as a distant cousin of Manitas who has volunteered to help raise the children. Jessi does not recognize Emilia and opposes the arrangement, ultimately only agreeing to return to Mexico to reunite with Gustavo Brun, a past lover with whom she had an affair during the later years of her marriage ("Bienvenida").

Adjusting to their new life in Mexico, Rita and Emilia have a chance encounter with the mother of a missing child, which causes Emilia to reflect on her criminal past ("Mis siete hermanos y yo"). Emilia later puts her son to bed, and the son confesses he still recognizes her scent ("Papá"). Remorseful, Emilia utilizes her connections with incarcerated cartel members to create a nonprofit that identifies the bodies of cartel victims ("Para"). Rita and Emilia collaborate in growing the nonprofit and recruiting donors, some of which, Rita points out, are dangerous and corrupt ("El mal"). Epifanía, a woman whose abusive husband's remains were identified by the nonprofit, meets with Emilia to confirm his death, and the two subsequently begin a relationship ("El amor").

Meanwhile, Jessi continues rekindling her relationship with Gustavo ("Mi camino") and reveals to Emilia that the two plan to marry and move the family to a new home. When Emilia refers to the children as "mine" and becomes physically aggressive, Jessi flees with the children. After Emilia cuts off Jessi's allowance and threatens Gustavo into leaving Mexico, Jessi and Gustavo kidnap Emilia and demand ransom from Rita. Arriving at the designated location, Rita attempts to negotiate with Gustavo, but a shootout ensues with the security team that Rita has employed and brought to rescue Emilia. Emilia finally reveals her true identity to Jessi by recounting intimate details of their first meeting and their wedding day ("Perdóname"). Gustavo and a confused Jessi load Emilia into the trunk of Gustavo's car and drive off, but as Jessi slowly comes to realize what has happened, she becomes guilt-ridden and orders Gustavo to pull over, holding him at gunpoint. As the two struggle for the gun, the car veers off the road, killing Gustavo, Jessi, and Emilia.

Rita tearfully informs Jessi's children of what has happened and offers to be their guardian. Epifanía marches in the street singing Emilia's eulogy and celebrating her fight for truth and freedom ("Las damas que pasan").

Directed by Jacques Audiard
Written by Jacques Audiard
Based on Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
Écoute by Boris Razon

Produced by

• Jacques Audiard
• Pascal Caucheteux
• Valérie Schermann
• Anthony Vaccarello

Cast

• Zoe Saldaña as Rita Mora Castro, a lawyer
• Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez / Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, cartel kingpin who wants to covertly undergo gender-affirming surgery
• Selena Gomez as Jessi Del Monte, Manitas's US-raised wife and mother of Manitas' children
• Adriana Paz as Epifanía Flores
• Édgar Ramírez as Gustavo Brun
• Mark Ivanir as Dr. Wasserman, the doctor who performs gender reassignment surgery on Manitas

Cinematography Paul Guilhaume
Edited by Juliette Welfling
Music by

• Clément Ducol (score)
• Camille (songs)

Production
companies

• Why Not Productions
• Page 114
• Pathé
• France 2 Cinéma
• Saint Laurent Productions
• Pimienta Films

Distributed by Pathé

Release dates

• 18 May 2024 (Cannes)
• 21 August 2024 (France)

Running time - 132 minutes Country France
Language Spanish
Budget €25 million
Box office $10.6 million

Production

Development

In January 2022, Télérama released a five-episode program covering in detail Jacques Audiard's pre-production process. Audiard developed the screenplay from what was originally intended to be an opera libretto in four acts. The title character was inspired by a chapter from Boris Razon's 2018 novel Écoute. Emilia Pérez marks the first time Audiard has written a film alone. Previous co-writer Thomas Bidegain serves as a creative collaborator.

Clément Ducol composed the original score, while Ducol and French singer Camille composed the original songs. Camille wrote the lyrics to the songs in Spanish with the assistance of a Mexican translator, and performed on the demo. Damien Jalet choreographed the musical sequences. Anthony Vaccarello, of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, created the costumes.

Filming

Production was initially to begin in autumn 2022 but was delayed six months due to varying scheduling conflicts with the cast members. It was originally set to take place on location in Mexico but was moved to a studio near Paris instead, in accordance with Audiard's wishes. The interior scenes included a reconstruction of an "authentic Mexican backdrop". Audiard stated that the studio setting would afford him the ability to "produce more form" and give him "more freedom for the parts that are sung and choreographed."

Principal photography began in May 2023 in the Île-de-France region, before wrapping on 5 July 2023. The film is produced by Pascal Caucheteux through his company Why Not Productions, and also by Audiard and Valérie Schermann through their company Page 114; in co-production with Pathé, France 2 Cinéma, and Vaccarello's Saint Laurent Productions, a division of Yves Saint Laurent.

Gascón wished to portray Emilia Pérez both in the pre-surgery and post-surgery stages.

Music

The soundtrack album features the film's original songs performed by cast members Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Mark Ivanir, Adriana Paz and others, as well as the original score composed by Ducol and Camille. The soundtrack was first released digitally on 31 October 2024 by Sony Masterworks. An extended play (EP) featuring a selection of five songs from the soundtrack–"El alegato", "Para", "Papá", "El mal" and "Las damas que pasan"–was released earlier on 5 September 2024.

Release

Emilia Pérez was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 May 2024. The film received a standing ovation with reports that it lasted either nine minutes or 11 minutes.

Shortly after its premiere, Netflix beat out multiple studios and was in negotiations to acquire distribution rights to the film for North America and the United Kingdom for $12 million; the deal ultimately closed at $8 million instead. The film was theatrically released in France on 21 August 2024 by Pathé. World sales for international distribution were handled by The Veterans.

The film made its North American premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival. It played at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2024, at the San Sebastián International Film Festival ('Perlak' section), and it was selected in Icons at the 29th Busan International Film Festival to be screened in October 2024. Emilia Pérez has also been selected for the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 under the World Cinema section. The film opened the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival in October 2024. It received a limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada on 1 November, before debuting on Netflix on 13 November in the US, UK, and Canada.

LGBTQ community

In contrast, some in the LGBTQ community—including critics and advocacy organisations—were much more critical. Speaking for NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, critic Reanna Cruz said that "it seemed like the filmmaker was painting trans women as liars", while GLAAD called it "a profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman". Drew Burnett Gregory, writing for Autostraddle, asked, "How many times do cis people have to learn about us before a portrayal like this one rings as false to them as it does to me?" Editors of the American LGBT magazine Them claimed the film perpetuates an idea of "transness so completely from the cis imagination".