Emilia Pérez review: 'bonkers' musical about a transitioning Mexican cartel boss
The 'unexpected' film is 'genuinely fresh and new'

"Well, this is unexpected," said Wendy Ide in The Observer. Veteran French director Jacques Audiard (Un prophète) takes "arguably the biggest gamble of his career with the eccentric, genre-bending, Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez".
Set in Mexico, it touches on such weighty themes as cartel violence and "the epidemic levels of disappearances in the country, as well as gender reassignment surgery and transitioning" – via the medium of "endearingly shoddy song and dance numbers". Zoe Saldaña stars as Rita, a brilliant lawyer who is offered $2 million by notorious cartel boss "Manitas" Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) to help him transition. He has realised that "not only was he born into the wrong body, but also the wrong life", and he believes that as a woman named Emilia Pérez, he will be able to leave "cartel culture" behind for ever.
The songs won't leave you "humming on the way home", but the film is a "riotously entertaining one-off", and it feels "genuinely fresh and new". This year's Cannes audiences and juries "fell hard" for Emilia Pérez, "bowled along by the fearlessness and audacity of the world's first transgender Mexican cartel musical", said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times. But I'm afraid I wasn't convinced. The film is "bonkers, but not in a good way – in a way that leaves you scratching your head going, why is this film even a musical?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Some viewers will hate this movie, which also features the pop star Selena Gomez, as it veers "from karaoke to kidnapping", said Tim Robey in The Telegraph. Yet Audiard's achievement is to make such an "overblown mélange into something amazingly confident – it's clever, earnest, ridiculous, knowing, forceful", and deeply eccentric. "It's hard to believe he pulls it off, but he does."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
August 22 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include security detail in DC, a Swedish takeover, and Donald Trump's love of Kiss
-
The 5 best zombie movies of all time
The Week Recommends Ghouls feasting on flesh have been a staple of cinema for more than 50 years
-
Japan meets Italy at The Bulgari Hotel in Tokyo
The Week Recommends Experience the peak of hospitality in an exclusive high-rise hotel in the heart of Tokyo
-
Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid: 'more than just a novelty'
The Week Recommends Europe's first plug-in hybrid pickup is 'surprisingly agile'
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'
Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more