All through cinema’s history we’ve seen countless stories of characters who want to “start over” and “reinvent themselves”. Often they’re wanting to atone for past behaviors (as in the recent GOODRICH or WILD HEART), while others make a radical change in appearance (way back to NOW VOYAGER). This weekend’s “buzzy” new Netflix release encompasses both in an unorthodox way, since it’s a “full out” musical, and proves to be quite a showcase for the superb talents involved. It’s also a “message” movie, a domestic drama, and a nail-biting crime thriller. The latter is the starting point as this tune-filled fable focuses on a ruthless drug kingpin (accent on the king) who yearns to become the “queen” named EMILIA PEREZ.
But first we encounter another woman. Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldana) is a frustrated lawyer in Mexico City where the bigoted hierarchy of her firm have put her “on the bench”, writing speeches to the jury delivered by an ill-prepared, male co-worker trying to get acquittals for guilty lowlife clients. Then things radically change when she gets a phone call from someone powerful who wishes to pay her very well for her services. A clandestine “meet on the street” takes a scary turn when somebody covers her head with a hood and pushes her into a dark SVU. She meets her employer, the notorious head of the big national drug cartel, Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, who doesn’t want Rita’s legal skills, but rather needs her to do the “legwork’ to find the best doctors (not in Mexico or the US) that can transition him into a woman. After the search concludes (and secret overseas accounts for Rita are in place). Castro joins the Del Monte clan for a secret “farewell party”. There she meets Mrs. Del Monte, Jessi (Selena Gomez), who doesn’t know of her husband’s wishes. Rather, Rita tells her that she and her two young sons must relocate to Switzerland as Manitas stays behind to broker a deadly cartel war. While the family and Rita head to the Alps, the surgeries begin in Israel for Manitas. Several years pass, and Rita is now living and working in London. A statuesque Spanish-speaking woman approaches her at a dinner party. She introduces herself as Emilia Perez (Karla Sofia Gascon), then whispers to Rita that she has a new job for her. It is the former Manitas. She wants Rita to bring Jessi and her sons back from Europe to live in her Mexico City mansion where Emilia will pose as the aunt of Manitas. The “reunion” happens, and all seems to go well as Jessi buys into the “family connection” (including the faked demise of Manitas). But then she reaches out to a former flame, the dangerous Gustavo (Edgar Ramirez), while Emilia starts a charity which leads to a romance with an abused widow named Epifania (Adriana Paz). Can Emilia maintain her new life and leave her old brutal criminal past behind her? And can Rita avoid being caught up in the impending “clash”?
Although she’s not in the title role, Ms. Saldana absolutely steals the film as the “by the book” lawyer who is swayed (by loads a’ cash) into the underworld. She expertly conveys the full range of Rita’s emotions, whether ethically conflicted, frustrated (as a cloddish male co-worker mangles her words), or terrified . I’m referring to her first “meeting” of Emilia as she believes that she’s a “loose end” to be severed. Ah, but we get the full range of her talents as Saldana displays a rubbery, fierce grace in the musical numbers, especially with one set at a charity ball, using the rich patrons as props. Truly an performance worthy of many awards. I was not aware of the career of Ms. Gascon, so I was delightfully surprised at her work, starting as the sinister Manitas growling threats while pleading for help, but then showing a tender side with his two sons. Much of that quality is there as the maternal Perez, who wants to heal her homeland while exploring a new type of romance with the sympathetic Paz as Epifania. More recently honing her comedic chops as part of the trio in “Only Murders in the Building”, Gomez returns to her musical roots and delves into some heavy dramatics as the often bewildered Jessi. She gets a couple of engaging dance numbers, but she’s at her best as she rebels against the smothering Perez to pursue a steamy romance with Ramirez as the macho manipulative Gustavo.
This unique cinema experience comes from veteran director Jacques Audiard whose screenplay adapts his opera libretto, which sprung from the novel Ecoute by Boris Razon. Audiard works in a dark gritty color palette, particularly on the mean dangerous streets of Mexico City (Rita is engulfed by the darkness). There’s a lighter look in the blissful confines of the Perez home, which switches with the desert hellscape of the missing murdered. The background dissolves away for the musical numbers, though these aren’t glossy MGM-inspired Technicolor fantasies. Especially powerful is a haunting ballad about the “lost souls” sung by floating heads of the families and friends against a dismal black limbo. But he does indulge in a bit of movie “camp” as Rita gets a tour of a sparkling “surgery spa” in Thailand. Big kudos to the musical talents of songwriter Camile, the score of Clement Ducol, and the choreography by Damien Jalet. This word be a compelling story if it just focused on the gender “transition”, but the powerful look at the real-life kidnapping epidemic, and the parental conflicts make this an outstanding and important artistic statement. There are lots of secrets and compassion in the the life and legend of EMILIA PEREZ.
3.5 Out of 4
EMILIA PEREZ is now playing in select theatres
