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With thirteen Oscar nominations, the most for any international feature,Emilia Pérezhas become one of the most talked-about films this year. The musical crime drama set in Mexico has been controversial since its Golden Globes win, with many native Mexicans rejecting the film as an authentic portrayal and criticizing several cultural and thematic elements.
Starring Karla Sofía Gascón as the eponymous character, the film follows a cartel gangster who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery and lead a more authentic and honest life. While many from the industry lauded the film and it even won the Jury Prize at Cannes, many critics have called it Oscar bait and have brought up several problems with it.
Many films each year try their best to win the coveted golden statue. While some gain the love of the voters through sheer authenticity, some try to manufacture it. Here are eight reasons whyEmilia Pérezis probably the most obvious and worst Oscar bait in recent times.
1Emilia Pérez’s cultural portrayal is only at the surface
As the title suggests,Emilia Pérezis set in Mexico and centers around a cartel gangster who hopes to lead a new life after getting gender-affirming surgery. The film then goes into the territory of cartel-related crimes and the disappearance of many young Mexicans in the country due to said crimes. However, the depiction is as deep as a bowl of soup.
For starters, the film was not shot in Mexico. In fact, the film was reportedly shot on soundstages in Paris, with only a few days of exteriors and pick-up shots filmed in Mexico. While the musical nature of the film no doubt requires the construction of controlled sets, a bit of research could have gone a long way in making it authentic.
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Noted cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto criticized the lack of basic research in the film, especially in the details. He said toDeadline,
Why not hire a Mexican production designer, costume designer, or at least some consultants?… It was just the details for me. You would never have a jail sign that read ‘Cárcel’ it would be ‘Penitenciaria’. It’s just the details, and that shows me that nobody that knew was involved.
Several such inauthentic details have been apparent in the film positioning itself to be a groundbreaking story. Despite these elements, it is incredibly frustrating to see theOscars taking the baitand non-Spanish-speaking audiences embracing it.
2Director Jacques Audiard admitted to not researching more about Mexico for the film
There are several filmmakers who go to great lengths to authentically portray a culture or a location that they do not originate from. However,Emilia Pérez’s director Jacques Audiard does not look to be one of them. The French director has previously been recognized for his work on films likeDheepanandA Prophet, and of course, is now famous for the 2024 film.
However, the filmmaker who actually took the advice ofDheepan’s lead actor Anthonythasan Jesunathan for the portrayal of the Sri Lankan Tamils, was surprisingly ignorant about many of Mexico’s cultural nuances. Criticisms of depictions of simple things like cafes have been made in the film and it all seems to originate from Audiard’s lack of research.
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The filmmaker admitted to not going deep into the culture while making the film. He said while being interviewed at Cannes (viaLatin America),
No, I didn’t study much. I kinda already knew what I had to understand.
The lazy filmmaking and its unanimous acceptance at various international festivals and audiences could set a dangerous precedent. Audiard went on to apologize for the inauthenticity, claiming that the fim was never meant to be real and was just meant to ask questions (viaThe Guardian).
However, that is not a good enough justification for the abject disregard for a culture that has already been vilified in mainstream Hollywood. Introducing complex themes in a classic Hollywood genre piece always gets voter attention but it is on the filmmaker to be authentic about it.
3The lack of Mexican actors and crew makes it obvious that the film’s message is just for the movies
As filmmaker Jacques Audiard himself mentioned, the film was never meant to be real. The film clearly follows this directive as it lacks authenticity in not just the setting of the film but also its actors and crew. Filmed in Paris instead of Mexico, the film features only one Mexican actor as part of the lead cast and Adriana Paz is merely a supporting character.
ActorZoe Saldañais Dominican-American while the lead star, Karla Sofía Gascón is Spanish. Selena Gomez is a third-generation Mexican and is largely Mexican-American. The cinematographer, editor, and music composers are all French, along with director Audiard himself. Apart from dialogue coaches, no key creatives were native to Mexico.
Now, everyone knows that nothing gets a film made in Hollywood without a star attached to it (be it a filmmaker or an actor) but it is impossible that not a single Mexican talent was hired for the majority of the roles inEmilia Pérez. There were no consultants nor was there any research done. Audiard seemed to just go with his instincts with this one.
The casting director of the film mentioned that they searched extensively for Mexican actors but ultimately chose ‘talent’ over authenticity. She said (via Latin America),
We looked for Mexican actresses, but none were as good as the ones we chose.
That is a bold statement to make considering the amount of talent present in the country. It is obvious that the makers chose to go for more known names who could have passed off for the characters andstill drawn enough eyesfor the project.
4Good but inauthentic performances
While good performances really take a film to the next level, it rarely means that it is necessarily a good film.Emilia Pérezhas not one but four powerhouse actresses headlining the film and they even shared the Best Actress prize at Cannes among themselves.Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Adriana Paz have all been appreciated.
Despite Saldaña’s Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination, the lack of authenticity is what takes audiences out of the experience, especially the native Mexicans. Many have criticizedthe lead stars’ accentsand how none sound like real Mexicans. Gomez in particular received criticism from prominent actor Eugenio Derbez (viaBBC).
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Derbez reportedly said that the film felt like it was made by foreigners and the accent especially was off-putting. The comments from the actor went viral enough for Gomez to respond to him, after which he reportedly apologized. The singer-actress was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress but lost out to Saldaña.
The Oscars do love a good performance but at this time, a good performance just will not cut it when dealing with a real culture. However, with 13 leading nominations including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, the bait seems to have worked.
5A real-world problem was not treated with the seriousness it deserves
Apart from the portrayal of Mexican characters,Emilia Pérezalso seems to fail at the most important premise in the film. As the eponymous character leaves the cartel to lead an ‘honest’ life as a woman, the film takes a segue to show the various atrocities committed by the cartel, including r*g trafficking and disappearances.
The film shows Pérez repenting for her sins of the past during her criminal days and starting a non-profit to help victims of the cartel. She develops a relationship with the wife of a victim (played by Adriana Paz) and by the end becomes a hero of sorts. The cartel’s crimes are a serious issue in Mexico and many did not like the treatment it was given.
Over 400,000 people have been estimated to have been killed or disappeared since the government’s war on dr*gs and the issue seems to be increasing each day (viaEl Pais). Horrific stories have come out of Mexico about the way the victims as well as their family members have been tortured and killed, which barely gets any mention in the film.
Setting it in Mexico without actually evaluating the horrible problems faced by the locals is never good. But whatEmilia Pérezdoes is that it brings in the topic as a plot point and barely contemplates it unless it is in service of the protagonist’s change of heart, and barely shows the seriousness of the issue.
It received criticism from many Mexican audiences for trivializing an ongoing problem that has taken many lives and putting it in an entertainment zone. It is just exploitative and adds nothing to the conversation about the cartel issues Mexico faces on a daily basis.
6Casting trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón was probably the only good move by the makers but her arc is not treated well
With therecent Oscar nominationfor Best Actress, Karla Sofía Gascón became the first trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar. While she lost out the Golden Globe to Demi Moore forThe Substance, Gascón’s nomination has already been historic and she has been touted to be a favorite for the voters this year.
The criticisms of the movie aside, the actress has reportedly been facing death threats and severe hate online for her trans identity which is one of the worst things ever (viaTHR). Gascón even called herself public enemy no.1 at the moment due to the political scenario in America, after Donald Trump won the election last year.
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While it is commendable that the makers cast a trans actress to play the role instead of just casting a man (the effort which they did not take while casting authentic Mexicans for the roles), and Gascón’s performance is pretty good, the arc of Pérez is a bit problematic.
Introduced as a biological male who is a cartel boss, her transformation into a woman and a civilian seems to project the narrative that the change is seen as an act of redemption for her and not something that is related to her identity. The film does touch on the subject but many have criticized it for not bringing the real trans experience to the screen (viaGLAAD).
7Hollywood and the Academy love musicals andEmilia Pérezknows this
If there is a genre that Hollywood loves more than a love letter to Hollywood itself, it is the musical. TakeLa La Land, Cabaret, Moulin Rouge!,orChicago, all have received love at the Oscars and have received Best Picture nominations at the very least. The musical is a genre that is so specific to Hollywood that it has been revived multiple times.
This year saw a variety of musicals likeWicked, Emilia Pérez,andJoker: Folie a Deux. However, only the former seems to have worked for the genre while the other two seem extremely overdramatic and like an experiment gone bad.Emilia Pérezespecially takes the operatic route (it was reportedly initially planned as an opera) for a subject that needs more seriousness.
The problem does not end there, though, as none of the songs are memorable, and the one that is for all the wrong reasons. Theinfamous transition song(‘La vaginoplastia’) is just trollable and the original songs that got nominated for the Oscars are nowhere as memorable asWicked’s. In fact, the film’s issues have overshadowed the fact that it is a musical.
The treatment of the film’s crucial subjects under a musical may be ambitious but it just does not translate and the issues are far too serious to be treated this way. With less-than-stellar music and controversial placements, the film would possibly have avoided some criticism if it were not a musical at all. However, it still would not be considered a good film.
8Emilia Pérezfails as a transition story and as a Mexican story
In 2020, the Oscars changed its diversity rules amidst allegations of racism and favoritism. The new rules mentioned that films where at least one leading or supporting character from an underappreciated or suppressed group would be considered nominees. Other rules included key creatives having some representation of marginalized groups.
It looks likeEmilia Péreztook heed of only the first rule and decided to make a film on the lines of the trans identity of a Mexican cartel boss. Despite its noble intentions, the film fails to be an accurate portrayal of either of the two experiences and has been decried by members of both communities.
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Director Jacques Audiard mentioned that he found a connection between the two identities and hoped to portray the film through the musical genre to give it some distance to the viewers. He said (via BBC),
And it’s something I can’t quite explain rationally, but there was a link between the two in which I imagined this story of whether this capo, who is responsible for this evil, redeems himself and by extension all of Mexico, through this transition, through changing himself.
The film does not seem to do well on both ends. Pérez’s trans identity seems to just come across as a redemption story of a man haunted by his crimes and the lack of any Mexican representation does not give any honesty to the story’s message. This was a film that hoped to satisfy the festival circuit and while it seems to have achieved that, history might remember it differently.
Emilia Pérezis streaming on Netflix.
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2415
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
