'Emilia Pérez' controversy: Why 'torturous' movie is criticized for its representation

With its continued awards acclaim, "Emilia Pérez" is widely considered a best picture front-runner going into the Academy Awards on March 2. The film has also been controversial since its release in November.

The Netflix crime musical follows a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) hired by a cartel boss (Karla Sofía Gascón) who wants to undergo gender-confirming surgery. It received acclaim when it premiered in May at Cannes Film Festival and has since picked up four Golden Globes at January's award show, including best movie comedy or musical, best non-English language film and a best supporting actress victory for Saldaña.

And that was before its leading 13 Oscar nominations. The nominations are historic for breakthrough star Gascón, who earned an Academy Award nomination for best actress, becoming the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nod.

Despite much critical praise, there is plenty of controversy surrounding the film. Here's why.

'Emilia Pérez' criticized for Mexican representation

Some are criticizing the Spanish-language movie musical for its lack of Mexican representation in the leading cast and crew: Director Jacques Audiard is French; the movie was shot entirely in Paris on a soundstage; and of the film's four main actresses, Paz is the only one born in Mexico.

Selena Gomez, who co-stars as Gascón's disgruntled wife, is of Mexican descent. But Gomez has been criticized for her lack of Spanish fluency in the film.

In a TikTok late last year, "CODA" actor Eugenio Derbez slammed her performance as "indefensible" and said that as he watched the movie, he thought, "Wow, what is this?'" The actor agreed with "Hablando de Cine con" podcast host Gaby Meza, who felt Gomez was unable to give nuance to her performance because Spanish isn't her primary language and she didn't understand what she was saying.

Selena Gomez responds to 'Emilia Pérez' criticism: 'I did the best I could'

The "Only Murders in the Building" star eventually replied: "I did the best I could with the time I was given. Doesn't take away from how much work and heart I put into this movie." Derbez later apologized to Gomez, saying his "careless comments" went against "everything I stand for."

Reactions on social media have been more critical. A viral X post shared a six-second clip from one of Gomez's scenes and slammed her for "thinking this is an acceptable way to speak Spanish."

Others defended the actress by pointing out that her lack of fluency fits the role. A community note was added to the aforementioned X post stating, "Selena's character, Jessi Del Monte, is American and Spanish is not her first language. The film makes it clear about that."

'Emilia Pérez' criticized for depiction of Mexican drug war

Others have criticized the movie for its sanitized depiction of the Mexican drug war.

"Emilia Perez's film is the unfortunate consequence of years of exporting audiovisual productions that glorify drug trafficking," one X user wrote. "The Mexican cultural elite is full of insensitive vultures who, for simple money, have contributed to this cancer called narco culture."

The drug war has resulted in the deaths of at least 350,000 people as 72,000 remain missing, according to official figures reported by the Washington Post.

Another user wrote, originally in Spanish, of the disappointment felt by "Mexican filmmakers, after decades of thinking of ways to bring the horror of drug violence to the screen, looking for ways to represent it with sensitivity and respect for victims and families, seeing how abroad they reward the trash that is 'Emilia Pérez.'"

'Emilia Pérez' criticized for transgender representation

The movie has also received backlash for its trans representation.

Viewers have shared dismay that "Emilia" is the film getting the spotlight for transgender representation, versus underseen films like "I Saw the TV Glow," a movie from a trans director.

"i want to celebrate the first trans woman to be nominated for best actress (and i am) but its for (expletive) emilia perez ... trans women you deserve so much better than that," one user wrote on X.

She's a trans actress and 'a warrior.' Now, this 'Emilia Pérez' star has made history.

"It's wild because Emilia Pérez is literally the worst film with a trans lead we could've asked for at this moment in time," another user wrote. "I feel sorry for Karla Gascón to be making headlines as the first trans woman nominated, when THIS cis nonsense is the screenplay she's being nominated for."

And LGBTQ critics, some of whom are transgender, have denounced the film and its director for outdated depictions of trans people.

Amelia Hansford, a trans critic for LGBTQ+ news site PinkNews, called the film "satirical," "disingenuous" and "harmful."

"It tries to use the idea of transitioning to convey that through her transition, Emilia is trying to repent for the sins she committed in her time as cartel boss," Hansford wrote in her review. "The issue with this is that transition isn't a moral decision, and the act of transitioning alone doesn't somehow absolve you of your past self."

The non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD called it a "profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman" that "recycles the trans stereotypes, tropes, and clichés of the not-so-distant past."

Them writer Fran Tirado called the film "torturous" and "an idea of transness so completely from the cis imagination."

And Harron Walker, for The Cut, wrote: "I expect that a filmmaker so taken by the concept of transitioning, one who's displayed a certain level of conscious sensitivity in his previous efforts to depict lives unlike his own, to at least display an informed understanding of what that concept actually looks like in practice."

Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Melissa Ruggieri

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Emilia Perez' movie controversy: Oscar nominated film gets backlash