Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Total Film
Total Film
Entertainment
James Mottram

Emilia Pérez review: "A miraculous movie that reframes the musical in fascinating and surprising ways"

Emilia Perez (2024).

Emilia Pérez had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Here's our review...

French director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone) leaves his comfort zone far behind with his new film. A fully engaging two-hour musical set in Mexico City, complete with dance numbers and a storyline that ranges from gender reassignment to cartel violence, it’s as daring as they come. With a wonderful cast led by Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and the terrific Spanish actor Karla Sofía Gascón, it’s a film that wows in multiple ways. 

The plot gets truly underway as Rita (Saldaña), a dedicated counsellor at law, is summoned by a mysterious voice on the phone. No sooner does she arrive at a newsstand than she is press-ganged into a vehicle, where she meets drug lord Manitas Del Monte (Gascón). 

Two years earlier, he began hormone treatment and wants Rita to find him a surgeon to complete his journey to live “the life nature wouldn’t give me”. Completing his transition, Del Monte becomes Emilia Pérez and starts life over. Even wife Jessi (Gomez) is made to think her husband has been killed. 

With stellar songs by French singer Camille, a highly original score by Clément Ducol, and striking choreography by Damien Jalet, Emilia Pérez shifts effortlessly from musical extravagances to a gritty underworld milieu. 

The latter comes to the fore when the story moves on several years, finding Pérez keen to start a campaign to locate those who have “disappeared” in Mexico’s shady crime-riddled system. Saldaña and Gomez deliver forceful performances (both in Spanish), but even they are outflanked by Gascón. A miraculous movie.


Emilia Pérez's release date is currently TBC.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.