Mexico City. Lawyer Rita is kidnapped on the street and brought to the narco-cartel boss Manitas—who hires her to find him a gender surgery specialist because he wants to become a woman, and will give her as much money as needed. Rita books him a surgeon from Tel Aviv and evacuates Manitas' wife Jessi and two kids to a Swiss town for their own safety. Manitas stages his own death and starts a new life as Emilia Perez. Rita meets Emilia back in Mexico City and has Jessi and the kids flown back. Emilia lives with them in a mansion, but becomes jealous when she hears Jessi found a new lover. When Jessi flees with the kids, Emilia cuts off her bank account, so Jessi and her lover have Emilia kidnapped to blackmail Rita for money. Emilia reveals she was Manitas. In a car chase, Jessi and her lover argue and crash to their deaths, together with Emilia in the trunk.
Despite all the hype and disagreement among the critics, "Emilia Perez" is a good film. Its premise is ridiculous (a narco-cartel boss kidnaps lawyer Rita to find him a sex surgery clinic so that he can become a woman, instead of simply asking her nicely and paying for her services without coercion) and the musical-dance bits are superfluous (especially the silly "La vaginoplastia" song in a clinic in Bangkok), but overall the storyline flows smoothly and fluently, and its two main protagonists are interesting characters, especially Rita who comes to life thanks to an excellent, outstanding performance by Zoe Saldana. In the highlight of the movie, Saldana's stylistic hand movements in a red suit, as she dances on the table of guests at a charity party, in tune to the snappy song "El Mal", come to full expression and overwhelm the viewers when no other part of the film is ever able to do the same. The rest is good, but standard and predictable, with mediocre dialogue and lukewarm execution. The director Jacques Audiard shows respect towards this transgender theme, since the narco boss Manitas is a much nicer, lovable person as Emilia, showing his hidden feminine side, even though that is in disparity with his violent criminal life up to that point—he tries to escape male problems by becoming a woman and get a fresh start, but even as Emilia, she stumbles upon female problems. "Emilia Perez" is a good movie, but only to a certain extent, since much more could have been made out of it, and the songs aren't that catchy.
Grade:++
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