Emilia Pérez, directed by Jacques Audiard is a slightly psychedelic movie trip that fuses crime, comedy and musical genres. It stars Zoe Saldaña alongside Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón as three women tied together by deception and a desire to write their own happily ever after.
When underpaid and underappreciated lawyer Rita (Saldaña) meets famed, ruthless cartel boss Juan “Manitas” Del Monte – they set off a chain reaction with explosive results.
If nothing else, Emilia Pérez was a reminder that Zoe Saldaña can do the damn thing. Right from the start, through her character Rita, she effortlessly sings and acts, out the frustrations of her life. Working as a lawyer, living in Mexico, balancing work and family life – she types, she eats she moves through the city all in song and dance. This opening number tells us who Rita is; an intelligent woman waiting for her Cinderella moment to propel her into a life of wealth and status.
Most importantly, it’s an entirely compelling opening argument for how the musical element of this crime-comedy-drama can be seamlessly part of the narrative. And the theatrics do work – half of the time. There’s a brilliant moment when Del Monte is appealing to Rita, and their dialogue flows from paragraphs to poetry. It’s a breathtaking collaborative feat for Jacques Audiard who also wrote the screenplay, and French songwriter Camille.
Remember I said the song and dance worked half the time? Well that’s a precursor statement for Emilia Pérez overall; it felt like we were watching two different movies, the first part was extraordinarily done; meeting Rita and setting up the introduction of Emilia Pérez (Gascón). Seeing how the two women come together and use their money influence and power in an attempt to right wrongs and do good in Mexico – a country where so many go missing and many more go without closure.
The second part unpicked all the hard work by going in an unexpected direction led by Del Monte’s widow, Jessi (Selena Gomez). Ready to move on from her husband’s death years prior, she reconnects with an old lover. Selena Gomez’s performance as the erratic love warped Jessi was fine, and with this shift in character focus, Rita’s arc abruptly takes a back seat to slightly cringe the soap opera style drama Jessi takes the rest of the movie down.
By the end of the film you were left questioning its entire form. Did the music, the singing, the dancing work or was it a distracting mess? Did we buy Rita and Emilia’s non-profit altruism, or was it a contrived way to for Emilia to redeem herself for her past and a poor excuse for Rita to stay in Mexico instead of returning to her slightly empty life abroad.
As you can tell, the musical element stole the show in the best and worst way. This meant that the central narrative about making tough choices in order to live authentically and core themes, unfortunately got back burnered. Emilia Pérez is about three women who each go to extreme lengths to secure their happiness in a society that tells them otherwise. It’s a story about grit, resilience and choosing to be selfish, which in itself is not an inherently evil trait. However, selfishness, when pushed too far, can have irreversible consequences.
In all honesty I can’t decide if I liked Jacques Audiard’s latest film, Emilia Pérez but I will call it a fun disappointment. As a film critic that loves to see artists shoot their shot and try something new (yes, that includes Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis) I can appreciate the artistic vision of this movie as a crime drama with musical numbers. The acting across the board was commendable, even if the movies substance was woefully inconsistent.
Have you watched Emilia Pérez?
What did you think?
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