Cannes 2024: Female-Led Cast Catapults Emilia Perez To Festival Favorite
One of the biggest surprises to come out of Cannes Film Festival this year was Emilia Perez. Zoe Saldaña plays Rita, a successful Mexican lawyer who is seemingly underutilized when she suddently receives an unexpected offer. Forced to keep her work a secret, Rita agrees to help a largely feared cartel boss retire from his work and transition into the woman he has always dreamed of being.
While Emilia Perez skews on the side of a crime drama, it also has comedic and musical elements. Yes, it is a musical, but not in the way you might expect. Zoe Saldaña is the first to introduce us to this side of the film in an emotional outburst of frustration around not being recognized for her work. Music is used as a vehicle for expressing emotion in this film. When dialogue or visual cues cannot portray the character’s full range of feelings, the director turns to music.
The plot of the movie was extremely vague going in and, up until about halfway through, I was a bit fearful. The way in which they initially present the cartel boss’s desire to transition into a woman is clouded by a potentially problematic motivation. Until we get deeper into their story, it seems as though the new identity of Emilia Perez may be a tool to evade being prosecuted for such horrible acts done during their time of power in the cartel. After quite a comedic song about plastic surgery, it is revealed that they had true intentions of genuinely wanting to transition since they were young.
I will say that the musical scenes are used sparingly and don’t hit you over the head. They are gritty and emotional moments for the characters to express what is happening internally. While most of the songs lean on serious notes, there are many laugh out loud moments that will break through the heaviness.
Emilia Perez mixes English and Spanish language, incorporates music in an interesting way, and has a completely original story. It is a commendable effort to create something so new that takes as many risks as it does.
Not only was every performance in this film captivating, they were real and gritty. It was so impressive that the main female cast collectively won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz all went home winners garnering much buzz and anticipation for its wide release.
