When the 2025 Golden Globe nominations were released two weeks ago, many were surprised to see that the most nominated film was a Netflix release called Emilia Pérez. The film scored ten nominations, followed by Brady Corbet's The Brutalist with seven. But despite the acclaim from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Emilia Pérez does not have the universal acclaim from critics and audiences that you'd expect from a film with ten nominations. So where's the disconnect? How can a film be so revered and loathed at the same time?
Emilia Pérez premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with rapturous applause from audiences. There, it won the prestigious Jury Prize, with the entire female ensemble sharing the award for Best Actress. Then months later, when it arrived at TIFF, audiences had a similar response. Everyone in the film festival circuit seemed to be singing the praises of Emilia Pérez. But it was a whole new story when the film premiered on Netflix on November 1st.
Audiences on Twitter and Letterboxd began tearing the film apart, deeming it offensive for various different reasons. Emilia Pérez currently holds a score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and only a 3.0/5 on Letterboxd. On their own, these aren't bad scores, but it's certainly not something you'd expect from a film with ten Golden Globe nominations.
Emilia Pérez is a French film directed by Jacques Audiard, starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón. Saldaña plays Mexican lawyer, Rita Mora Castro as she helps high-ranking drug lord, Manitas Del Monte transition into a woman, fake his own death, and live under a whole new identity. After fully transitioning, Manitas begins living life as businesswoman, Emilia Pérez. It's certainly an original story, the most surprising aspect of all being that it's a musical. Musically, it's incredibly similar to Leos Carax's Annette, which premiered at Cannes in 2021 and was met with very similar reviews.
Emilia Pérez has been praised for its music, direction, story, and especially its performances, although the internet seems to loudly disagree.
Emilia Pérez has drawn criticism for its portrayal of Mexico, particularly from Hispanic and Latino audience members. This is partially to blame on the director, Jacques Audiard, a French director who speaks neither Spanish nor English and has no real ties to Mexico, resulting in an unpleasant, stereotypical portrayal of the country as a corrupt, lawless wasteland. Needless to say, Mexican audiences are not happy with the film at all. Emilia Pérez will not even be released in Mexico until award season is over, a decision that has lead many to believe that the people behind the film know that their portrayal of the country will not be well received.
To quote the thoughts of a anonymous Hispanic film journalist, Emilia Pérez is "an interesting film, disruptive and innovative. However, it is a cartoon vision of all Latin American social and cultural topics." The film includes "stereotypes that we are trying to leave behind in movies, especially from Mexico."
Perhaps the most widely criticized aspect of Emilia Pérez is Selena Gomez's performance as Jessi Del Monte, the former wife of the titular character. The film is almost entirely in Spanish, and while people have been praising Zoe Saldaña for her grasp on the language, the same cannot be said for Gomez. Despite being of Tejano descent, Selena Gomez did not grow up speaking Spanish and is not fluent in the language, something that is unfortunately glaringly obvious by her performance. Mexican Tiktok users have even been comparing her pronunciation to that of High Valyrian from Game of Thrones rather than actual Spanish. Nevertheless, Gomez managed to score a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, a decision that has left thousands utterly baffled.
Emilia Pérez is easily the most divisive film of the year, but it does have its virtues. It's a truly unique film with a lot of artistic merit behind the technical aspects, but the film fails to impress the people it set out to represent. Considering its dominant presence at this year's Golden Globes, it is a fair bet to assume that it will be a contender at the Oscars, SAG Awards, and possibly even the Grammy's. Regardless of how you feel about the film, it's unlikely that we'll stop hearing about Emilia Pérez any time soon.
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