Emilia Perez is a flamboyant musical with an improbable storyline and a brilliant cast.
Its central character is a disenchanted lawyer Rita (a standout Zoe Saldana) who is hired by a Mexican drug lord Manitas del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascon) to help him transition from a man to a woman.
It’s an entertaining story – thriller, comedy, family drama and transsexual saga– all interspersed with rollicking musical numbers.
Not only will Rita have to find a suitable doctor to perform the necessary surgery.
She will also need to make arrangements to spirit Manitas out of Mexico, to fake his death, and to protect his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and their two young children by secretly sending them to live in Switzerland.
In return, Rita will be paid a fortune.
Disillusioned by her legal career, which consists mainly of ensuring criminals escape justice, Rita accepts the brief.
She finds an Israeli surgeon who successfully operates on the bearded Manitas, who emerges from the bandages as a beautiful woman.
All goes well for the next four years until the transformed Manitas – now Emilia Perez – becomes desperate to see her family again.
Once again Rita gets involved. She sets them all up in a house in Mexico, where Emilia poses as Manitas’s cousin, and everyone lives happily – until it all goes pear-shaped, with a bang!
Zoe Saldana is sensational as Rita but all the woman are excellent, particularly Gascon, a transgender actress who plays both Manitas and Emilia Perez.
Sandana, Gascon and Gomez – along with Adriana Paz, (who played a Mexican mother whose son was “disappeared” by the cartels) – jointly won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the first time Cannes had honoured a trans artist.
The film, the 10th for director Jacques Audiard, leads the shortlists for Oscar nominations, including best international feature, best sound and best original song.
Emilia Perez opens on Thursday, January 16, at Luna Leederville, Luna On SX and Luna Outdoors.
Watch the trailer…
