This is a spoiler-free review.

I’ll admit, I almost quit this movie around 17.5 minutes in. One of the reasons was that I struggled to keep up with the Spanish dialogue while reading the Spanish subtitles. (Emilia Pérez is predominately in Spanish, with several scenes in English and a small tidbit of French.) The other reason was that I wasn’t sure how to feel about Emilia being asked about her gender transition.

For the record, Emilia Pérez has garnered critical acclaim, yet it’s very controversial for its coverage of cartels in México (Hollywood’s favorite stereotype of México and other Hispanophone countries) and for having a trans woman be the villain of the story. All of those critiques are valid, and I had them in mind as I started the movie. Though when I was about to turn it off, I scanned an article in Out Magazine titled, “Why Emilia Pérez’s trans critics are wrong.” The author, Mey Rude, is a trans woman journalist who made the argument on how Emilia Pérez actually displays the nuances of a trans woman’s experience. Mey’s perspective is her own, but she made great points.

After reading them, I decided to continue watching it. Nevertheless, I agree with the very popular opinion that Emilia Pérez didn’t need to be a musical. There were 2 scenes where the music really worked, particularly the ones about finding closure for missing loved ones and Selena Gomez dancing in the club with a random guy. The other songs could’ve been left on the cutting room floor.

When it comes to the actors, Selena wasn’t bad. I wasn’t expecting her to be terrible, but I was trying to see where the acclaim for her was coming from. Her character is Jessi, Emilia’s ex-wife. In the scenes where Jessi cried about being away and not knowing where her spouse really was, I felt her emotions. Do I understand the hype around her performance? A little bit. But the other actresses, particularly Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña (who plays Rita Mora Castro), stood out to me more. Granted, they had much more air time in the film, but even with that, I was more enamored by their performances and how they brought life to their characters.

My overall opinion of the movie is that despite its 2 hour 10 minute length, the time went quick. And if you don’t take the musical parts seriously, it’s not THAT bad of a movie. At least the ending wasn’t very predictable. I can’t say it was worthy of 13 Oscar nominations, but Karla and Zoe deserve their nods for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. And my favorite part of the movie was seeing the sapphic attraction between Emilia and Epifanía (played by Adriana Paz). 

If you’re down to watch Emilia Pérez with English subtitles (speaking from an Anglophone perspective), do it. Then form your honest opinion about it without pressure from netizens.

Overall Rating: 6/10

UPDATE: Since this article’s publication, Karla Sofía Gascón has come under fire for her racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic tweets made in the not-so-distant past. I condemn those tweets and believe that she should be held accountable for them. I can’t say that she should lose her Oscar nomination, because there are racist, misogynistic, and predatory cishet men who keep getting nominated without being subjected to the same amount of negative press. BUT I do believe that Karla should not be casted in other major films for at least a couple of years and that she should donate a chunk of all her acting paychecks to social justice causes.

Para leer esta reseña en español, haz clic aquí: https://kristasoyyo.com/2025/01/29/emilia-perez-en-500-palabras/