Written by: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir
Rating: [2/5]
Second chances, while not always guaranteed, give the opportunity for one to right the wrongs of their past and do something positive if they have something to make up for. This looks different in all settings and relationships, but the way Emilia Pérez handles a second chance gets filtered through this prism of self-actualization that has the potential to tell a wonderful story. Unfortunately, for this film it tried to jam a bunch of other stuff as well resulting in a disjointed crime musical.
Underappreciated for the work she does as an attorney, Rita (Zoe Saldaña) gets approached by a cartel kingpin, who requests her help in organizing gender-affirming surgery to live the way they feel is right as their true selves for a handsome sum of money. Having to manage all of the logistics, including taking care of the kingpin’s wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), Rita a few years later gets a new surprise.
Truly a tremendous mess, the experience of Emilia Pérez borders on enthralling in experiencing the directions it takes and the whiplash it may give you. It navigates its story like a bulldozer that does not seek to build anything substantive but just barrel through these different ideas and wrap it all up in a musical. Bold ideas that could certainly work well individually but when put together and handled with this level of disregard, it leaves such a mind-boggling viewing experience. It’s a story about trans awakening, drug cartel dealings, and justice for those missing. While all admirable, none of these get even the slightest of the amount of detail they deserve.
With the story elements faltering here, it leaves one larger question: with this purporting to be a musical, how does it fare? Not very well in my estimations, which is a shame given the talent involved here. The only memorable sequence worth praising involves Zoe Saldaña’s Rita as she sings about the hilarity of individuals who appear for a fundraiser she is supporting. The way Saldaña dances for this scene is exquisite in her physicality and while lyrically the song is clever, it does not carry any juice in its melody. This pretty much summarizes each musical sequence where some element of it feels completely off. Mixing this in with the general slapdash effort of the story, it further makes these sequences feel shoehorned in rather than building blocks effortlessly coming together.
It can’t all be bad, right? Surely with the level of talent involved here there should be something this film can hang its hat on with regard to success? Well yes, and that mostly lies on the shoulders of Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón. As the two leads, this pair carries the heart and soul of this feature between them. From where they begin and where they end up in this story carries plenty of beauty and the very best this film has to offer. Gascón equally carries this sensitivity and fierceness that this character requires but ultimately gets let down by a story that does not fully do her acting abilities justice. This runs similarly with Saldaña, who also goes through a complex journey of her own in Rita. She gives so much to the performance and does not receive the same for what this film devolves to but then we have Selena Gomez.
Now there’s something distinct about Gomez’s performance that did not work and it begins with her Spanish-speaking ability. I have a level of sympathy for her as a first-generation Latino American, who does not have the same refined ability to speak Spanish as those who came before her. However, when taking on a role completely in Spanish and having to act opposite of characters who eloquently speak it, her presence felt like quite a distraction. There was a lack of emotion in her vocal presentation of the already lackluster dialogue she had to deliver and it never felt right. It made Jessi, as a character, someone who always felt detached from the story because it continually reminded us this was Selena Gomez trying to speak Spanish rather than a performance. Pointing this out feels incredibly harsh but it undeniably makes a negative impact on the film that already struggles in multiple areas.
On paper Emilia Pérez has several elements of what I typically like in a film and with the talent involved it should have been a slam dunk with its admittedly strong style. However, style cannot save this film from the reality of it being a complete mess filled with several laughably bad sequences that make you question what in the world you are watching. A beautiful-looking mess and one that’s scattershot and unfocused approach took away from the greatness of its two lead actors.
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