Yes, “Emilia Pérez” doesn’t deserve as many Oscar nominations as it scored last month.
Thirteen? It’s an insult to classics like “The Godfather” (11), “Citizen Kane” (9) and “Raging Bull” (8).
The “Emilia Pérez” controversy grew worse when a journalist “resurfaced” star Karla Sofia Gascón’s old Tweets, a throwback to the Cancel Culture days of not-so-long-ago.
The real issue is the movie itself.
Few films have a worse moral compass than “Emilia Pérez.” That’s saying something for an industry which adores antiheroes and hit men. Today’s Tinsel Town can’t even figure out how to make a Boy Scout like Superman work.
(Let’s hope James Gunn reverses that trend with July’s “Superman” reboot)
“Emilia Pérez” plays like a telenovela on steroids, and that isn’t necessarily bad. The film follows a brutal drug lord (Gascón) who fakes his death and transitions into a woman.
Voila, Emilia Pérez is born.
Story Spoilers Ahead:
Emilia isn’t a stone-cold killer. She’s kind and doting to her children, who she watches in a manner many have dubbed “Mrs. Doubtfire”-lite.
They’re not wrong.
She’s also eager to help family members learn the fate of loved ones who have gone missing in Mexico. Emilia’s cartel killed hundreds of innocents, maybe more. She and her old compadres know where the bodies are buried.
Literally.
It’s a quasi-noble effort, but hardly worth universal acclaim. The story treats Emilia like a hero for her activism, while audiences know it can’t make up for her cruel past. She never mourns for the deaths she made possible.
A better approach might be forcing cartels to curb their ghoulish ways. Maybe “Emilia Pérez 2” will address that.
RELATED: ‘EMILIA PEREZ’ DIDN’T GET AN OSCAR BOUNCE
We’re told that Emilia is now a good person, worthy of our sympathies. All that toxic masculinity got surgically removed.
Just. Like. That.
Heck, the past is the past, and she’s literally a new person now.
Sorry. We’re not convinced. The film’s attempt to redeem the title character comes up woefully short. Plus, in the third act she reveals she hasn’t changed as much as we’re told.
She clings to the money she gained via her criminal past. She scorns the mother of her children (Selena Gomez) for daring to move them to another home. She never stops controlling Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña), the lawyer who set Emilia’s transformation in motion.
Both Rita and Emilia are meant to be empowered characters, part of the film’s woke messaging. Neither fits that description. Why is Rita so loyal to Emilia? Is it about the money? If so, why is she never happy?
The film’s final moments all but deify Emilia, a stunning choice given the film’s events.
Storytellers can follow whatever moral path they wish. They’re artists, and sometimes they ask us to root for characters who deserve to rot in jail, not live another day.
Think Tony Soprano.
“The Sopranos” still clung to a moral compass, showing the shades of gray within the mob and how a gangster’s desiccated soul couldn’t be cured by money, sex or fame.
Some of “Emilia Pére’s” critics may have been too harsh. The film deserves credit for its blazing originality. It’s a lavish tale of a trans gangster trying to juggle her NGO, romance and parental duties.
It’s the opposite of cookie-cutter storytelling. That’s refreshing.
The characters break into song in several ways, from full-blown musical numbers to talky-singing like “Joker: Folie a Deux” or Woody Allen’s 1996 dud “Everyone Says I Love You.”
Your results may vary.
Social media mocked the film’s trans-surgery sequence, although its staccato vocals have a hypnotic allure.
I don’t think I’ll ever see Emilia Perez but this short clip is 10/10 so incredibly funny. How is this a real movie? Why aren’t they singing when it’s a musical? So many questions. pic.twitter.com/FCVNPHNvJY
— cosmic jester (@cosmicjester) February 1, 2025
This is the kind of creative swing we rarely see these days. We can all take a beat and applaud the film for being unlike anything else.
No wonder Netflix gobbled it up.
That doesn’t explain the film’s immoral trappings. And that has nothing to do with featuring a trans title character.
The Oscars are meant to salute the best and brightest films. “Emilia Pérez” barely qualifies on either level. Even for its shrinking band of admirers, the film’s toxic soul makes it unworthy of the gold statuette.
The post The Real Reason ‘Emilia Perez’ Isn’t Oscar Worthy appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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