Can people really change? I mean really and truly change? Here’s a musical that theorizes not only that people can change but that outer change and inner change are perhaps intertwined. For when drug cartel kingpin Manitas del Monte becomes Emilia Pérez, she ceases being a cartel kingpin in an instant. Now she’s an aunt.
Not that aunts can’t be cartel kingpins, of course, but Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón) is much more a doily-and-help-with-your-homework aunt, and not so much a smuggle-fentanyl-and-slaughter-rivals kind of aunt. I suppose it’s a difference between a cat lady who feeds several tabbies and a cat lady with a tiger on a leash.
Successful defense attorney Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña) has been summoned to a private meeting. Even knowing the details of the meeting will make one an unwitting accomplice, so Rita has to accept a large payday before hearing the request. The request is offered by a notable druglord currently earning a degree in self-care, and he has a fairly unique project in the horizon. At the moment, he needs and attorney to become a she. What’s the good of all that drug money if you can’t buy something you want?
And mingled in between there is song, glorious song! One thing I truly loved about Emilia Pérez is the film’s neverending desire to turn boring procedural scenes into upbeat montages. Wouldn’t you rather sing about your frustrations with the justice system rather than live them in full? Of course you would.
I dunno if this is a mistake, but Manitas plans to shed his entire life with the transformation. We can only guess that he’s a monster. I mean, who rises to the title of “cartel kingpin” without being a monster? But Emilia Pérez is none of that. Additionally, however, Emilia Pérez is neither husband, nor father. Is Manitas going to miss these roles when Jessi del Monte (Selena Gomez) and his kids disappear? I guess we shall see.
One question I wondered was if any part of the transformation was determined by practicality ahead of desire. Gender dysphoria has little to do with 
practicality, of course. It seems to stem from a place almost as much about necessity as desire. Who *wants* to undergo sexual transformation for the fun of it? Yet, one cannot deny how the life of Emilia Pérez advances in almost every way ahead of the life of Manitas del Monte. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?
Where I find fault with Emilia Pérez is the part where Act III turns violent. It’s not that we didn’t expect it to happen. We did. No one gets out of the crime business unscathed. But the film never really introduced us to the dark side of Manitas. Act I hinted at a darkness, as told to us through Rita’s expressions, but the film never flat-out showed the violent criminal behavior of Manitas; I needed that for the sake of cyclicality or poetic justice or something along those lines.
Is Emilia Pérez the ultimate “Nature v Nurture” film? Can you nurture yourself completely into a different reality? I daresay you can, but it’s probably not common; I daresay, this is quite a thesis: that inside every monster, there’s a ballerina yearning to be free. I think it’s a wonderful movie message, but falls flat in real life.
A druglord called Manitas del Monte
Lived a life both savage and flaunty
And yet, happily
The he becomes she
The kids lose dad, but gain a new auntie
Rated R, 132 Minutes
Director: Jacques Audiard
Writer: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius & Nicolas Livecchi
Genre: The lighter side of druglords
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who believe people can change
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Transphobics
