Yahoo Lifestyle Fans Are Calling "Emilia Pérez" Problematic, Despite It Being An Award-Winning And Critically Acclaimed Film
Emilia Pérez won big at the Golden Globes on Sunday, and the future looks bright for the movie amidst awards season.
As one of the second most nominated films in Golden Globe history with 10 nominations, the Spanish-language French musical crime comedy took home four wins, including Best Motion Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Song for "El Mal," and Best Female Supporting Actor for Zoe Saldaña.
The movie was written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet) based on his four-act opera libretto loosely based on Écoute, a 2018 novel by Boris Razon.
Emilia Pérez stars Zoe Saldaña as Rita Mora Castro, a lawyer who helps a Mexican cartel leader disappear.
Karla Sofía Gascón stars as the Mexican cartel kingpin Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, who dreams of disappearing and transitioning into a woman and becomes the titular character.
Selena Gomez stars as Jessi Del Monte, Manitas's wife and the mother of his children.
All the Spanish-language music performed in the film was written by French singer Camille and French film composer Clément Ducol.
From winning the Jury Prize at the 77th Cannes Film Festival to dominating the Golden Globes and becoming a leading contender for other awards, Emilia Pérez is highly regarded by critics and filmmakers.
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin said in his review that "Phrases like 'game-changer' and 'cutting-edge' can't capture just how audacious and original Emilia Pérez is."
Director James Cameron said on the Ringer Movies podcast, "What I saw that blew me away was Emilia Pérez. I have seen it three times... It's just not like any other film that's ever been made. It's bold, daring, a vision. It's beautifully executed. It's a beautiful piece of filmmaking."
Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro said, "It's so beautiful to see a movie that is cinema," during a Q&A with the film's director following a Los Angeles screening.
While filmmakers and actors from Denis Villeneuve to Meryl Streep have praised the movie, many LGBTQ+ folks and people online have not shared the same positive sentiment.
GLAAD called the film a "profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman."
On an episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, critic Reanna Cruz said, "The entire time I was watching it, I had a really weird feeling in my stomach because, to me, it seemed like the filmmaker was painting trans women as liars," Cruz said. "Liars and people that can't tell the truth and they don't know who they are."
And the backlash doesn't stop there! After a big night at the Golden Globes, many people have taken to the internet to share shock, surprise, or disdain for the film's success.
This is a message to @TheAcademy. pic.twitter.com/lbRHNsJ9a5
— Héctor Guillén (@hectorcarlosg) January 6, 2025
emilia perez winning after the french director said he didn’t care about doing research on mexican culture…. okay pic.twitter.com/uVe5mKcgq3
— mar 🎧 (@chrrypm) January 6, 2025
@nardwuar / Twitter: @chrrypm
it's always cultural appropriation until the latinos speak. you have a french production company, a french director and writers & everyone's clapping while they accept awards in FRENCH because they don't know spanish... mind you mexico is the last county emilia pérez came out in
— val (@lalalandism) January 6, 2025
we’re actually witnessing history this awards season tbh. we may never see a film as dogshit as emilia perez win awards. this is generational delusion from voting committees that we may never see again.
— George Carmi (@georgecarmi) January 6, 2025
I’ve never seen filmtwt be so united as it is when it comes to hating on Emilia Pérez
— quibs scytale (@quibvs) January 6, 2025
Not to be friend that’s too woke but the Emilia Perez cast and crew not using any of their platform tonight to talk about securing and protecting the right to gender affirmation care given the nature of the film and the climate we’re in is mad dark nasty evil spirit behavior
— Jordan (@Jordanbloked) January 6, 2025
I have heard nothing but bad things about Emilia Pérez and they winning everything….im confused pic.twitter.com/Xs6ddx5aAB
— 💫 (@heyjaeee) January 6, 2025
VH1 / Twitter: @heyjaeee
“and the golden globe goes to emilia perez” pic.twitter.com/vnDuTqWAUR
— emy (@theamazingemy) January 6, 2025
Dimension Films / Twitter: @theamazingemy
emilia perez: *wins an award*brazilians, mexicans, film twitter & people who just wanna be included: pic.twitter.com/A6SUJyxACf
— ً (@americanreqiuem) January 6, 2025
Paramount / Twitter: @americanreqiuem
So you are telling me that the voting body for the Golden Globes thought Emilia Perez was a better musical than Wicked?#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/cwVQgrE4TJ
— Shay💋 (@sunshine0nme) January 6, 2025
With such polarizing reactions between film critics, filmmakers, actors, and the general public, it's interesting to see how different a film's intention and impact can affect people based on how they relate to the body of work.
If you haven't seen Emilia Pérez yet, it's now streaming on Netflix.
I would like to hear what you think about the movie. Let's talk about it in the comments.
You can check out more of our Golden Globes coverage here.
