Emilia Pérez
Year: 2024
Rating: R
Length: 132 minutes / 2.20 hours
I know it takes some time for certain themes to work their way through the cinematic zeitgeist so that they are more accepted by the public. For a decade or more, Best Picture nominated films pushed LGBTQ+ ideas that were meant to be shocking to the cis-white majority of Americans. That controversy has died down, but with the current political landscape pushing anti-trans (the “T” in LGBTQ+) rhetoric, it was only a matter of time until it once again had the spotlight. Unfortunately, Emilia Pérez (2024) feels like a tone-deaf compromise that feeds off negative stereotypes of trans people and Latinos.
While I’ll admit that a crime lord changing genders to escape heat from the authorities is a unique take for a plot, it emphasizes the idea that people only change genders so they can escape consequences or get a pass to do bad things (like assault women in bathrooms). The bigger problem is that the rest of the plot for Emilia Pérez is basically the same concept behind Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). It might try to appear “sweet” but ultimately lacks the awareness of personal change that the main character needed to undergo to be with his family again.
That this movie also emphasizes negative stereotypes about Latinos being criminals and trying to do whatever they can to evade law enforcement just shows that it’s clearly not based in any form of reality. If it didn’t have the trans element to its plot, I’m not even sure it would have been made. It really is disappointing that a movie like this can get made and receive critical acclaim. It’s been over 30 years since The Crying Game (1992) advanced trans-themed plot devices, so I only hope it’s not another 30 years before we can forget that Emilia Pérez existed.
A tone-deaf attempt at justifying right-wing rhetoric, I give Emilia Pérez 2.0 stars out of 5.
