An unconventional new life
Lawyer Rita is asked to help someone from Mexico’s cartel world establish a different life. As Emilia Pérez, this woman hopes to leave her past behind. Relationships, responsibilities and earlier decisions do not automatically disappear with a new name, however.
Jacques Audiard approaches the premise through an unusual combination of thriller, musical and heightened melodrama. The film takes a substantial artistic risk. Its willingness to connect these different forms is precisely what gives it such a distinctive identity.
Voices, bodies and images
Karla Sofía Gascón makes Emilia’s longing for change tangible while retaining the contradictions surrounding it. Zoe Saldaña gives Rita energy and presence. Selena Gomez brings important emotional tensions to Jessi; the characters are not defined solely by the central idea of transformation.
Camille and Clément Ducol’s songs and Damien Jalet’s choreography are closely connected to the storytelling. Rather than merely interrupting the action with decorative numbers, they provide another form for feelings and conflict. Paul Guilhaume’s images support the changing moods and striking contrasts.
Verdict
Emilia Pérez is an unusually daring and effective film. Its ensemble and musical construction sustain a story that refuses a comfortable single genre. The combination of emotional intensity, movement and suspense turns the attempt to build a new life into an impressive cinematic experience, with its formal ambition carrying real dramatic force.