As award season quickly approaches, critics and audiences alike will begin to reflect on the exciting year of film that was 2024. From critically acclaimed successes to box office failures, the cinematic world prepares to honor this year’s most impactful films at the 96th Academy Awards Ceremony. Films such as Wicked, The Brutalist, and The Substance have all been nominated for the coveted “Best Picture” award, however, another film within the category has been making waves within the media, and has once again raised concerns for the Academy.
Enter Emelia Pérez, a Spanish-language musical crime film written and directed by French film director, Jacques Audiard.While the film itself debuted in May of 2024 and has since been distributed to Netflix, the production continues to maintain its popularity, and not for positive reasons.
The film itself depicts the story of Rita Mora Castro (Zoë Saldana), an attorney in Mexico City who helps a cartel leader receive gender affirming surgery to become the film’s title character, Emelia Pérez (Karla Sofia Gascón). Once Emelia’s transition is complete, she instructs Rita to relocate her family to Switzerland for their safety and so she can have a fresh start, and does so by faking the death of her previous persona. Four years later, however, Emelia contacts Rita and asks her to contact her old wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), so she can see her children. Rita, Jessi, and her family relocate to Mexico City and meet Emelia, who is introduced as a distant cousin of Jessi’s previous husband. Jessi opposes the arrangement and instead reconnects with an old lover, Gustavo Brun (Édgar Ramirez). As the film continues, Emelia reflects on her past criminal actions, deciding to develop a non-profit to help identify victims of cartel violence and reunite them with their loved ones. Through this organization, she meets her lover, Epifanía (Adriana Paz). Jessi informs Emelia that she and Gustavo plan to marry and relocate, which Emelia does not take kindly to and instead cuts off Jessi financially and threatens Gustavo to leave the country. In retaliation, Jessi and Gustavo kidnap Emelia for ransom, and Rita responds with a security team that ends up as a shoot-out.
Emelia reveals her true identity to Jessi, who initially does not believe her, but after loading Emelia into the trunk of a car and driving off with Gustavo, she begins to understand and feel guilty. She demands the car is pulled over while pointing a gun at Gustavo. As the two fight, they end up crashing the car and dying, killing Emelia as well. The film ends with Rita taking in Jessi’s children, while Epifanía marches the street to spread the word about Emelia’s quest for freedom.
The film’s message and plot were positively reviewed by critics, praising Gascón, Gomez, and Saldana for their performances as well as the film’s overall message and story. The film was also praised for its inclusion of a transgender actress playing the character of Emelia Pérez. With these positive reviews in place, the film has since been nominated for 13 Oscar’s, including “Best Actress”, “Best Picture”, and “Best Original Song”, making it the most nominated film at this year’s Academy Awards.
Despite the critical acclaim, audiences were initially unhappy with “Emelia Pérez,” with many criticizing the representation of Mexican culture, and the transgender community. Outrage was specifically sparked as viewers listened to the songs included in the film, with “La Vaginoplastia” being criticized for its lyrics on social media. Other songs including “Papá”, “Mi Camino”, and “El mal” were also subject to scrutiny, due to their questionable lyrical choices pertaining to Mexican culture and the Spanish language.
The film itself is not exactly favored to “win big” against many of its co-nominees, however that hasn’t stopped the cast and crew from campaigning for their project. And yet, within the campaign, more controversy was discovered for an already controversial film.
The film’s lead actress, Gascón, has recently had old tweets resurfaced in wake of her historic Oscar’s campaign, causing the public to pull their already dwindling support. Within the tweets, Gascón makes insensitive comments regarding Islam, police brutality victim George Floyd, and the diversity at the Academy Awards. Due to her insensitivity, many have called for her nominations to be relinquished, as well as the entire film in general.
Gascón has released a statement regarding the old tweets, saying that she is “deeply sorry to those who I have caused hurt.”
“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness,” Gascón said in a statement to Variety. Since giving her apology, Gascón has deleted her X account after receiving death threats from users.
In response to the controversy, Gascón’s co-stars have begun to distance themselves from her personal campaign and have stayed focused on the film’s campaign as a whole. Saldana has since spoken out about Gascón, stating that she “doesn’t have any tolerance for hateful rhetoric towards any group.”
Director Jacques Audaird had also condemned Gascón’s comments on February 5. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust,” he said in an interview with Deadline. He also added that what Gascón has said is “inexcusable”.
In yet another effort to improve her image, Gascón was interviewed by CNN, where she claimed that she was not in fact a racist and that her comments were misinterpreted.
“For someone to think that … I have ever insulted a person because of their skin color, I do not allow that to anyone, to anyone,” Gascón said in an interview with CNN.
Despite the apology, Netflix has continued to minimize Gascón’s presence in any promotion towards the film, focusing more on Saldana and Gomez’s nominations and praiseworthy performances. Gascón has also stepped down from attending numerous events, and it is unclear as to whether or not she still plans to attend the award ceremony itself.
With a tumultuous situation hindering the film, audiences and critics alike can only hope that the cast and crew of Emelia Pérez can pull themselves together and hopefully redeem themselves in time for the Oscars. And if not, then this film will most likely be remembered for its controversy rather than its acclaim.