TIFF Review: ‘Emilia Pérez’ is a Work of Art with Remarkable Performances

Starting over with a completely new life is something many yearn to do but few can actually achieve. Leaving everything behind, even if such a break is possible, can be extraordinary painful and make it so that some connection, however minor, must remain to what used to be. Emilia Pérez tells an extraordinary larger-than-life tale of someone with untold power whose need to have their true self realized leads to a difficult and transformative decision to start anew without fully letting go.

Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer in Mexico City who, in her work, isn’t getting to help the best people and also isn’t getting the credit. When she receives a call offering her the chance to make a large sum of money, she accepts and come face-to-face with a cartel kingpin with a very specific request requiring the utmost discretion: to find someone to perform a sex-change operation. Several years after successfully completing her mission, Rita encounters Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón), a woman whose face and voice she doesn’t recognize but whose identity she quickly comprehends. Longing for her sons and their mother, Jessi (Selena Gomez), Emilia has Rita bring them from their hideout location in Switzerland to live with her in Mexico, developing new relationships with them as a distant cousin of Jessi’s late husband and a new aunt to the boys.

This film, from French director Jacques Audiard, whose past projects include A Prophet and Rust and Bone, is overflowing with creativity. Its opening moments include a musical number, the first of several that seem somewhat randomly inserted into the narrative but are great fun, adding depth and magic to certain moments that might have otherwise played out in a less interesting and memorable way. There’s something comedic about the process that Rita participates in to set up this top-secret operation and in Emilia’s eagerness to forge a bond with her family when, to them, she’s just a woman they’ve met heard of or met who suddenly wants to be very close to them, and Rita is the only one who knows the truth.

Based on Boris Razon’s novel Écoute, this entire premise, in execution, could easily have been far-fetched and absurd. But instead, it’s remarkably grounded, with Emilia actually able to start fresh and to undo some of the terrible things her former self did, like starting an organization to help find disappeared people so their families can have closure. Emilia also gets her own romantic plotline after she hides her identity from Jessi and learns about the affair she was having during their marriage. Epifanía (Adriana Paz) represents another world entirely, something completely separate and heartwarming for Emilia to get to experience after a life defined by violence.

Following this film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it was awarded a Best Actress for its four female performers. They’re all terrific, with Saldaña getting a wonderful opportunity to anchor a drama that’s a different kind of visual spectacular than the blockbusters she’s typically led. Gomez gets a mature role that allows her to tap into something incredible that audiences haven’t seen from her before. Paz’s part is limited but fiercely memorable. Even with such fantastic costars, Gascón is the best reason to see this film, offering a rich performance that feels deeply honest and lived in, conveying humor, love, regret, and deep loneliness.

There’s so much going on in this film that some audiences may have trouble connecting with its content, which manages to remain quite linear even with its musical interludes, and its style and flair. If those watching are willing to be entranced, however, the rewards are immense. This film is unlike anything else, embracing its premise fully and taking it to great heights. There’s plenty going on beneath the surface but just as much happening in the main storyline that never lets up as it explores the notion of a person truly becoming someone else. It’s a bold and considerable undertaking that reaches far and achieves a great deal.

Movie Rating: 8/10

Awards Buzz: This film may represent France in the Oscar race for Best International Feature, where Audiard has past had films nominated, but the question for the cast will be which actress are put in which categories. Gascón will need a strong campaign to boost her ahead of Saldaña and Gomez, whose popularity in the United States should help them.