Emilia Pérez (2024)

The critic describes it as a gloriously original, hip-swaggering work of weird brilliance with a hearty message about loving yourself and living your true path. The performances from the four leads and Audiard’s sensitive handling of the material are singled out for praise.

The critic hails it as a wondrously inventive musical that redefines the genre, praising the score, choreography, and standout performances by the female leads, particularly Gascón's dual role.

The critic calls it one of the year’s best films, praising its audacious direction, exquisite and heartbreaking songs, and trophy-bait performances in an extravagant Mexican noir musical.

The review calls it a miraculous movie that reframes the musical in fascinating and surprising ways.

The critic finds Jacques Audiard’s outlandish musical thriller a little jumbled and misjudged in its treatment of characters, particularly trans ones, but praises its uniqueness and audaciousness. The cast, especially Karla Sofía Gascón, is highlighted for extraordinary performances.

The critic finds the divisive trans musical audacious and transfixing in its spectacle but lacking cohesion, nuance, and strong songs or social insight.

The critic sees it as an exuberant but uneven mix of cartel thriller and musical with a trans twist, praising Gascón's performance and some numbers but noting structural issues in the third act.

The review deems the wild trans musical a memorable debacle that lacks psychological depth. It commends the bold swings despite frequent misfires.

The critic calls the film an incurious musical that never gets beyond splashy surfaces, with performances by Gascón and Saldaña providing energy but the story lacking depth or substance in its characterizations and musical numbers.

The critic calls the film a ludicrously misjudged narco-musical rooted in crude essentialism and cheap theatricality. It is a tonally disjunctive epic with plastic emotions that ultimately treats the central plight as a grand, lurid spiritual venture that curdles into abjection.

The critic praises Audiard’s full-bodied, colorful epic musical about transformation and redemption, highlighting its danger, boldness, and imaginative song-and-dance sequences, with standout work from Saldaña.

The critic describes it as a stylish, sensitive Spanish-language musical melodrama that poses intriguing questions about transformation and violence, praising Gascon's performance and the visual style.

The critic finds the film bold and ambitious despite its genre mix and tonal shifts, praising its heartfelt look at gender transition and strong performances, especially Gascón's, while noting some musical numbers falter.

The critic is conflicted about the film, finding it a gloriously trashy and flamboyant potboiler with standout performances but questioning whether its handling of cartel violence trivialises a serious national tragedy in Mexico.

The critic praises Audiard's ambitious genre-blending crime musical for its vitality and originality. The standout is Karla Sofia Gascón's magnificent, authentic performance as the title character.

The critic finds Audiard’s showy musical about a trans Mexican drug lord diverting and off-kilter, with Karla Sofía Gascón’s performance adding soul and real stakes to the melodrama while Zoe Saldaña also shines.

The critic hails the film as a daring, exhilarating Spanish-language pop opera about a cartel boss’s transformation and redemption, electrified by Gascón’s lead performance and Audiard’s audacity.

The critic calls the film fearless in its ridiculousness as an ambitious musical crime drama. It highlights the cast's strong work, especially Gascón and Saldaña, in bringing the tonal mix to life.

The critic finds the film a crazy but marvelous musical that works despite its outlandish premise. Audiard's direction is singled out for making the impossible conjuring trick succeed through strong performances and an eccentric tone.

The critic calls the film a startling and delightful gonzo telenovela musical that hits a home run with its big swing. Zoe Saldaña's performance and the film's bold musical form are singled out for praise amid its over-the-top melodrama.

Audiard pulls off the unlikely premise of a Spanish-language musical about Mexican drug cartels and gender transition with frenetic energy that bludgeons the viewer into submission. The high-voltage score, dazzling technical trickery and remarkable ensemble of actors, especially Karla Sofía Gascón, stand out.

The critic finds the film a love-it-or-hate-it audacious musical that is always fresh, daring and visually exciting despite major flaws and ridiculous moments. Outstanding performances by Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón help ground the story even as the high ambitions lead to some loss of control.

The jagged musical numbers provide bursts of energy and showcase strong performances, but the film sputters as the drama takes over and fails to explore its provocative premise meaningfully. It delivers something technically unique yet ultimately shallow.

The film boasts three strong lead performances but is held back by its overabundance of ideas and lack of cohesion. Audiard’s ambitious genre-blending musical melodrama about a cartel leader’s transition ultimately spreads itself too thin.

The critic sees the film as a frenzied, inconsistent experience whose blend of influences makes it unique but exhausting. The committed performances of the three leading ladies provide enough energy and emotion to make viewers somewhat glad they watched, though the twisting plot and schmaltzy sentimentality bog it down.

The film is a big swing that fails to connect as an audacious genre mash-up of crime thriller and musical, devolving into a cloying telenovela despite strong early moments and committed performances. Unfulfilled potential leaves it feeling like a half-completed thought experiment.