Hello movie lovers, Slick Dungeon here! I’m back to review yet another Oscar contender. This time I’ll be talking about Emilia Perez. Out of all of the Oscar films I have watched so far, this one has surprised me the most. I didn’t know anything about the movie going into it so I was a bit shocked to learn Wicked is not the only musical up for best picture this year. Let’s get into it!
What’s Emilia Perez about?
Just to get this out of the way, this is a musical. I had no idea. If you hate musicals, don’t watch this. The story is pretty interesting but I’m not sure this entirely succeeds as a movie worthy of a best picture nod.
The film follows the story of two people. Rita Mora Castro played by Zoe Saldaña is a brilliant but undervalued attorney. The men in her office give her no credit even though she’s the one writing the arguments that win their cases. Zoe Saldaña really shines in her part here and I think she might be the best part of the movie.
The second person involved in the story is Juan “Manitas” Del Monte a cartel kingpin with loads of money and power. Manitas wants to make a major life change. He wants to become a woman. What I find interesting here is Manitas wants to change not to evade the law, although it certainly helps with that, but because Manitas truly feels like a woman.
It takes some effort but Rita arranges for Manitas to get the necessary operations and get out of the country. Manitas also has a wife and kids who he sends away for their protection. Rita fakes Manitas’ death and Manitas from that point on becomes Emilia Perez.
Emilia Perez is everything Manitas wasn’t. She’s kind and caring and tries to help people. But eventually Emilia decides she can’t be away from her children. From that point on things get complicated. I won’t ruin the movie for anyone but if you think reuniting with your children and wife when they all think your dead is a bad idea, you’d be right.
While the story is decent, it’s also kind of predictable. Most of the people singing here have decent voices and it works on that level. But I feel like there were probably other movies out more deserving of a best picture nomination than this one.
The Awards
This movie is up for a jaw dropping 13 Oscars. It’s up for Best International Feature, Best Original Score, Best Song x2, Best Sound, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.
If Wicked could be up for Best Song it would win in that category. But since it can’t this movie has Best Song all but locked up, although it is splitting the vote against itself which could be a problem. This is not going to beat Wicked for best score either. This one or I’m Still Here is bound to win best international feature although my money is on the latter. I could see Karla Sofía Gascón winning for best actress but I know there’s been some controversy surrounding her so who knows? I do think Zoe Saldaña really deserves a win for her performance as best supporting actress. I’d be surprised if this won adapted screenplay, cinematography or best editing. There are just more impressive films out there this year, Wicked included.
Emilia Perez in conclusion
This is definitely a unique film. And it’s entertaining. The story is a little surprising but you can see most of it coming at you from a mile away. I think the reason this didn’t resonate with me personally as much is because of the predictability. The one thing that surprised me was that it was a musical. There are a few good performances here but other movies have some more impressive performances. And this year this movie is competing with the musical juggernaut Wicked. Unfortunately for Emilia Perez when it comes to musical comparisons, Wicked is going to win every time.
Awardingly yours,
Slick Dungeon
P.S. Want to see what I thought of the Best Picture winner last year? Check out my review of Oppenheimer!
