EMILIA PÉREZ made history at the 2025 Oscars by receiving 13 nominations, making it the most-nominated film of the year. The film was recognized for Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Director (Jacques Audiard), Best Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña), Best Adapted Screenplay (Jacques Audiard; in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi), Best Film Editing (Juliette Welfling), Best Sound (Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta), Best Cinematography (Paul Guilhaume), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini), Best Original Score (Clément Ducol & Camille), and Best Original Song (El Mal – Camille, Clément Ducol and Jacques Audiard), and Best Original Song (Mi Camino – Camille & Clément Ducol). It won 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song (El Mal).

EMILIA PÉREZ received 3 nominations at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The film was recognized for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Karla Sofía Gascón), Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Zoe Saldaña), and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña). It won one SAG Award: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

Emilia Pérez received 10 nominations at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. The film was recognized in categories such as Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language, Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Karla Sofía Gascón), Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Selena Gomez), Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Zoe Saldaña), Best Director – Motion Picture (Jacques Audiard), Best Screenplay (Jacques Audiard), Best Original Score (Camille & Clément Ducol), Best Original Song (El Mal – Camille, Clément Ducol and Jacques Audiard), and Best Original Song (Mi Camino – Camille & Clément Ducol). It won 4 Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language, Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, and Best Original Song (El Mal).

A disillusioned lawyer, tired of her firm prioritizing the defense of criminals over the pursuit of justice, faces an unexpected turn when a powerful Mexican drug lord hires her to help him disappear without a trace. A film by Jacques Audiard, starring Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir, and Selena Gomez.

In Mexico City, defense attorney Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña), receives an order from her employer to prepare a case for their criminal client, concluding that the victim committed suicide even though she knows that their client is the one who killed his own wife. Against her conscience but with no other choice, Rita begins preparing the case.

After winning the case, Rita receives a mysterious call asking why she’s hiding in the bathroom instead of celebrating her victory. The voice offers her a proposition: if she wants to become rich, she must be at the newsstand in 10 minutes. After they hang up, Rita weighs her options – continue working for a firm she despises at low pay, or take a chance on this mysterious opportunity that promises wealth.

At the newsstand, Rita is suddenly ambushed by a group of men who hood her and take her to their boss – who turns out to be Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), the notorious synthetic drug kingpin. He offers her $2 million for what seems like an unusual request: he wants to transition into a woman and leave his criminal life behind. Rita’s task, should she accept, is to find an untraceable surgeon and secure a safe haven for Manitas far from Mexico and the United States – somewhere he can disappear completely. With access to Manitas’s unlimited resources and instructions to spare no expense, Rita takes on the job.

Rita flies to Bangkok in first class to visit a clinic specializing in sex change operations, where she discusses the protocols, techniques, and risks with the doctor. Although the clinic is entirely fictional, it looks more like a psychiatric ward than a real hospital. The doctors’ and nurses’ uniforms are decorated with gold tinsel, giving it a theatrical vibe rather than resembling actual medical attire.

In Tel Aviv, Rita eventually locates Dr. Wasserman (Mark Ivanir), who is capable of performing the procedure, but he initially declines her request. After some persuasion, Rita convinces him to reconsider. However, Wasserman insists on meeting Manitas in person to evaluate him before making a final decision.

After hearing Manitas share his lifelong struggle with gender dysphoria, Wasserman agrees to perform the surgery. While waiting outside, Rita is stunned to encounter Manitas’s wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) – and even more surprised to learn they have two children together.

Gender dysphoria (GD) refers to the psychological distress that arises when a person’s gender identity, how they personally perceive their gender, does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. This condition can lead to significant discomfort, anxiety, and depression, impacting various aspects of life.

To protect Manitas’s secret, Rita lies to Jessi, claiming that drug rivals and authorities are closing in. She convinces Jessi to relocate with the children to Switzerland for their safety. Before his surgery, Manitas calls Rita one last time to say goodbye and thank her for completing her task.

Months later in Switzerland, Jessi is shocked as she watches a television news report about a body identified as Manitas, never knowing that he orchestrated his own death to begin a new life as Emilia Pérez – the woman he always longed to be.

Four years later, Rita lives a luxurious life in London, thanks to her work for Manitas. At a restaurant, she encounters a woman who she gradually realizes is Manitas, now living as Emilia Pérez. Rita’s first instinct is terror – assuming Emilia has come to eliminate her as one of the few people who knows the truth about Manitas’s survival.

However, Emilia reveals that she has no ill intentions. She confides in Rita that she desperately misses Jessi and their children. She offers Rita another job – to bring her family back to Mexico, where she has prepared a mansion in Las Lomas for them. There, she plans to pose as Manitas’s cousin to be close to them once again.

Jessi reacts with frustration when Rita suggests another move – this time back to Mexico to live with a supposed cousin of Manitas. After finally building a stable life in Switzerland with her children, she’s reluctant to uproot them again. Rita reassures her that Emilia Pérez who is Manitas’s distant cousin, has sent for them now that all threats have been neutralized and it’s safe to return to Mexico.

Jessi and her children receive a warm welcome at Emilia’s mansion. While none of them recognize Manitas in their host, Rita grows increasingly concerned watching Emilia shower the children with kisses and affection. Fearing the truth might slip out, Rita warns Emilia to be more careful around the children – she needs to act like their aunt, not their mother.

Alone in her bedroom, Jessi calls Gustavo Brun (Edgar Ramírez) and leaves a message revealing the truth that she’s returned to Mexico for him. She confesses how desperately she’s missed her secret lover, who she began seeing after the birth of her second son.

At the market, while Emilia is offering to pay Rita to stay in Mexico instead of returning to London, they’re approached by a woman handing out flyers about her missing son Octavio Vargas, who mysteriously disappeared on 18 November 2013 in Michoacán during a trip south. The encounter visibly affects Emilia, who confides in Rita that she deeply regrets many things from her past.

Back at the mansion, Emilia checks on one of the chidlren and finds him having trouble sleeping. She lies down beside him to offer comfort, and the boy confesses he misses his father. He tells Emilia he likes her because she smells like his dad, reminding him of their last hug before his father’s death.

Using her connections, Emilia locates Octavio’s body buried at the old San Cristóbal refinery alongside other victims. She returns him to his mother, finally providing closure about her son’s fate. This act sparks something in Emilia – she becomes determined to help other families find their loved ones who fell victim to cartel violence across Mexico. Eventually, she establishes La Lucecita, a foundation funded with her own money, dedicated to helping those most in need.

Written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard and loosely based on a character from Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Écoute, Emilia Pérez is a musical comedy-drama that follows a Mexican cartel leader who enlists a lawyer to help him disappear without a trace.

Boris Razon is a prominent French journalist, author, and media executive. He studied history at the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay Saint-Cloud, where he co-founded the magazine Don Quichotte. Razon began his career in journalism at Le Monde.fr, eventually becoming its editor-in-chief and serving there for a decade. His literary works include two novels, Palladium (2013) and Écoute (2018). In September 2020, he became the Editorial Director of ARTE France, a European public service broadcaster dedicated to cultural programming.

In Boris Razon’s novel Écoute, the character that inspired Jacques Audiard’s film EMILIA PÉREZ is a transgender Mexican drug kingpin named Juan “Manitas” Del Monte. This character, introduced midway through the novel, wishes to undergo gender-affirming surgery and transition into a woman.

The structure of EMILIA PÉREZ feels both familiar and bizarre, with a multifaceted main character whose behavior constantly oscillates between right and wrong, ultimately leading to her downfall.

Strangely, I find it hard to sympathize with Emilia; she seems to deserve her fate because she brought it upon herself, no one else is to blame.

At 132 minutes, the film drags painfully, weighed down by tedious melodrama. I had to pause it five times to do other things before I could finally finish it.

Though marketed as a musical, the songs fall flat. Most are overly sentimental, and by the end, I could barely remember a single song from the entire film.

How EMILIA PÉREZ has kept on receiving nominations and winning awards from major awards ceremonies will forever be a mystery to me.

EMILIA PÉREZ premiered on 18 May 2024 at Festival de Cannes where it won Prix du Jury (Jury Prize), Prix d’interprétation féminine (Award for Best Actress – Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez), and Cannes Soundtrack Award.

The film was theatrically released in France on 21 August 2024 and had a limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada on 1 November, before it was made available for streaming on Netflix on 13 November.