Emilia Pérez: Selena Gomez’s Netflix movie is a musical about a trans drug lord. It … rips?
SlateFrom the first frames of Emilia Pérez, writer-director Jacques Audiard makes it clear this is going to be a musical. The story, part crime caper, part domestic melodrama, part meditation on the mystery of selfhood, will involve suspense, disguised identity, the search for redemption, tragic hubris—a full complement of themes from genres as divergent as film noir and the kind of three-hankie weepies once known as “women’s movies.” Though Emilia Pérez is not a movie intended only for female audiences, it’s one that reflects deeply on the embodied experience of being a woman, a condition that some characters endure as a form of imprisonment—one unhappily kept wife sings of her life in the proverbial “golden cage”—while others look to womanhood as a potential site for personal and societal reinvention. Rita also travels to Bangkok and Tel Aviv to consult with the world’s most elite gender-transition specialists—the occasion for a whirlwind musical montage to a song unforgettably titled “La Vaginoplastia.” Act One ends with Manitas’ transition and the emergence of Emilia, whose self-naming we witness as she prepares to leave her hospital room and rejoin the world. Selena Gomez gets only one big solo song, but the script gives her plenty of opportunities to make what could have been a stereotypical gangster’s moll into someone far trickier and more complex. Emilia Pérez received a mixed response at its Cannes debut early this year, with some critics swooning while others pointed out that the film’s wild mishmash of styles and moods never quite adds up to a coherent character portrait.
History of this topic
Selena Gomez pushes back after actor brands her Emilia Perez performance ‘indefensible’
The Independent
Selena Gomez Hits Back At Eugenio Derbez Criticizing Her Spanish In 'Emilia Pérez'
Huff Post
Selena Gomez defends her performance in Emilia Perez after Eugenio Derbez's criticism: ‘I did the best I could’
Hindustan Times
Selena Gomez pushes back after actor brands her Emilia Perez performance ‘indefensible’
The Independent
Emilia Pérez review: Don't blame Selena Gomez, but her new movie is a wild mess
Hindustan Times
Emilia Perez review: Oscar frontrunner is a reductive take on the trans experience – starring a miscast Selena Gomez
The Independent
The choreographed spectacle of ‘Emilia Pérez’
LA Times
It’s hard to pin down the music of ‘Emilia Pérez’
LA Times
Zoe Saldaña’s Spanish-speaking role in ‘Emilia Pérez’ was a long time coming, says the star
CNN
'Emilia Perez' ranges from gritty and gunshot-riddled, to downright campy
NPR‘Emilia Pérez’ wouldn’t work without Karla Sofía Gascón. Now, she could make trans history
Associated Press
'Emilia Pérez' wouldn't work without Karla Sofía Gascón. Now, she could make trans history
The Independent
Emilia Pérez movie review: Karla Sofia Gascón and Zoe Saldaña’s narco-musical melange is an acquired taste
The Hindu
'Emilia Pérez' trans narco musical actress calls for 'living our own life'
NPR
Review: In ‘Emilia Pérez,’ a musical heightened by danger, passion pours out like a confession
LA Times
Madonna declares new Selena Gomez movie Emilia Pérez a 'masterpiece' as she parties with the cast in New York
Daily Mail
Selena Gomez flaunts shrinking figure in bow-clad cocktail dress for Emilia Perez screening at NY Film Festival
Daily Mail
Netflix's ‘Emilia Pérez’ trailer features Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez
LA Times
The gonzo trans Mexican drug lord musical 'Emilia Perez' lights up Cannes
Hindustan TimesThe gonzo trans Mexican drug lord musical ‘Emilia Perez’ lights up Cannes
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