MrPPeeps’s review published on Letterboxd:
Jacques Audiard's genre-blending "Emilia Perez" is part crime thriller, part musical and part massive disappointment.
I have no issues at all with any of the actors, the technicals and certainly not the amount of sheer creativity that went into the making of this, all of which are very impressive in their own right. My issues instead lie with its lack of commitment to a genre, it's obnoxious hand-holding of the audience, the incredibly out-of-place musical numbers and the fumbling of its twisted story/message.
We're introduced to frustrated lawyer Rita (played by Zoe Saldana) who is quickly abducted and forcibly 'hired' by an evil cartel drug lord - responsible for many unthinkable atrocities - to help him change his life by transitioning into the titular character 'Emilia Perez' and they succeed. After this though, their past transgressions are never mentioned again and we are seemingly meant to forgive them, as we watch them become a champion of the people, not because they've taken steps to become a good person and rectify their 'mistakes' (wrong word for murder, rape etc, but that's EXACTLY how the film treats them) but simply because they have transitioned, and this didn't sit right with me. Especially with the ending, that I won't spoil.
On one hand, it's bold and ambitious in trying to bring something genuinely fresh and impresses with its craft in a way that I understand is going to work for some people. But on the other hand, for a film so rooted in identity, it offers a confused and distorted look at something so important that doesn't understand or care about the nuances involved, and instead uses this to simply garner attention in a way that left me feeling nothing but hollow.
A very weird, baffling experience for me, but I really do hope this works in some way for people.
| 2024 Ranked |
My Last Review: | Insomnia |
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