And here lies, in essence, the colossal conundrum that Emilia Pérez has posed among critics and audiences around the world, which we could summarize in a couple of questions: Does Jacques Audiard have the right to use the criminal terror of the Mexican cartels, a drama too real and painful for so many people, as the basis of his musical fantasy? Or is it all just frivolity bordering on insult?
To understand the debate in all its complexity, we must bear in mind that the film is also the chronicle of a transition, approached from a moral perspective and captained by an actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, who really gives her all in a role that is as utterly complex as it is revolutionary. (Though critics have debated whether or not the movie is a good piece of trans representation.) Without her, there would be no Emilia Pérez, an audiovisual experience that, while walking a tightrope, also dares to give free rein to the most irrational impulses. However, each viewer must decide whether or not the daring is worth it.
As Paloma González writes in GQ Mexico, “Emilia Pérez is a reality check in many ways.” She refers to the fact that “it is not only a story of transition, identity, and freedom to live as we want (…); it is [also] a story that talks about violence, crime, corruption, sexism, and forced disappearances, although the latter takes a back seat.” According to González, in this sense, Audiard “proposes a kind of magical solution that does not reflect the complexity of the problem.”
Mexican actor and producer Eugenio Derbez was not so sympathetic at first. “I was watching it with people who turned to look at each other and said, ‘Wow, what is this?’” He was referring to Selena Gomez’s polarizing Spanish diction, which has inspired memes galore that, in all honesty, seem to ignore the fundamental fact that Spanish is not her character’s native language, so at least plot-wise, her accent is justified. Perhaps because of this, Derbez has since apologized for his initial comments, deeming them “indefensible” and saying they “go against everything [he stands] for.”
