What is Emilia Pérez about? Everything you need to know about the award-winning story

Emilia Pérez is a Spanish-language French musical film blends comedy, crime, and drama. Directed by Jacques Audiard, the film stars Karla Sofia Gascón as Emilia, a Mexican drug lord who fakes her death to undergo gender transition and pursue a life of freedom.

The film initially premiered in May 2024 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. It received critical acclaim and won the Jury Prize and its female cast together won the Best Actress award. Apart from Gascón, the film stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez in central roles.

Audiard derived the inspiration for the production from his opera libretto of the same name. The original work is based on Boris Razon's 2018 novel Écoute. The film was released in theatres by Pathé on 21 August 2024.

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Plot Summary of Emilia Pérez

The crime-comedy film centers on the titular character Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, a Mexican cartel leader, who decides to change her gender and become Emilia Pérez. To live the life she always wanted, Emilia undergoes the transition with the help of Rita Mora Castro, a lawyer. Disguised in her new identity, she seeks a fresh start, but her life gets complicated when her past catches on to her.

Her life gets entangled with her estranged wife, Jessi, and kids, who do not know her new identity. She pretends to be a relative of Jessi's husband and becomes a part of their life again, and things take a turn for everyone involved.

Set against a backdrop infused with music, the film explores themes of identity, redemption, and the courage to embrace change. In an interview with Tudum by Netflix on December 9, 2024, Karla Sofía Gascón said,

"You have an action movie that’s not an action movie, a drama that’s not a drama, a comedy that’s not a comedy, it is such a great gift, and I’m so proud to be part of it.”

Talking about his vision for the movie, Audiard told Netflix,

“During the first lockdown, I wrote a treatment quickly, and I realized along the way that it was closer to an opera libretto than to a film script — it was broken down into acts, there were few sets, the characters were archetypal."

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Cast and Characters

Karla Sofía Gascón (Image via Getty)

The cast and characters of the movie are as follows -

• Zoe Saldaña as Rita Mora Castro
• Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez
• Selena Gomez as Jessi Del Monte
• Adriana Paz as Epifanía Flores
• Édgar Ramírez as Gustavo Brun
• Mark Ivanir as Dr. Wasserman
• Eduardo Aladro as Berlinger
• Emiliano Hasan as Gabriel Mendoza

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Emilia Pérez wins four awards at Golden Globes 2025

The 82nd Golden Globe Awards, aired on CBS on January 5, 2025, and Emilia Pérez was one of the most talked about movies at the ceremony. With ten nominations, Audiard's film was the most nominated comedy or musical film in the history of Golden Globes.

Audiard himself was nominated for three awards, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and co-lyricist of Best Original Song nominee El Mal. In his acceptance speech, he said,

“I don’t have sisters so maybe this is why I made a film about sisterhood. If there were more sisters in the world, it might be a better place.”

The film took home four of the ten awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film, Zoe Saldaña for Best Supporting Actress, and El Mal for Best Original Song. On her first Golden Globe win, Saldaña said,

“I'm just so blessed that I'm sharing this moment with Selena and Karla and Jacques… I experienced this kind of magic on the set of Emilia Pérez and it’s thanks to you.”

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Emilia Pérez is now streaming on Netflix.