In Mexico City, fearsome and macho cartel leader Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascon) enlists unappreciated lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana) to enable his transformation into Emilia Perez, abandoning family and past to live peacefully as a woman. But she misses her kids too much, so returns to Mexico to pose as Manitas’ sister.
Jacques Audiard’s musical drama-come-thriller has garnered mostly good reviews and is one of the front runners to win the Best Picture Oscar. The story is certainly unique and it has great production values, with some excellently choreographed musical numbers. But it also lacks a single memorable song. Too many of them are performed by characters tunelessly ‘singing’ their lines. I think of it as the curse of Les Miserables! Saldana is the exception. Her’s is the best performance and she puts some energy into her songs.
The plot is pretty hard to believe. We are not only meant to accept that Manitas, who is responsible for countless deaths, magically becomes a crusader on behalf of the victims of drugs cartels once she becomes Emilia, but numerous rival gang leaders also miraculously gain a similar conscience. It is the sort of sloppy plotting that would be ridiculed in a non art house movie.
Emilia Perez is still on a limited release in cinemas and can also be watched on Netflix.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10