I Watched Emilia Pérez So You Don’t Have To

by Quelynda Taveras

Now that awards season is over, let’s discuss the imposter among a multitude of Oscar-worthy films. I’m talking about none other than Emilia Pérez, Netflix’s biggest flop. Viewers’ collective agreement that the film is garbage says enough; constantly hearing about how bad this movie is causes most people to decide against watching it. With that being said, I decided to take one for the team and watch Emilia Pérez for you. I saved you 2 hours and 12 minutes of your life. You can thank me later.

Emilia, Emilia, Emilia. Where do I even begin? Karla Sofía Gascon, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez are the big three of Emilia Pérez, but even these big names couldn’t salvage the movie. The film is essentially trash from start to finish, and I will dissect each piece of garbage for you. Think of this as a Sparknotes description of Emilia Pérez.

Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is an attorney, and at the beginning of the film, she’s defending her client in a homicide case. After winning, Rita gets kidnapped by the drug lord Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascon), who demands that Rita connect him with a doctor to help him surgically transition into being a woman and keep his secret. After being promised a grand amount of wealth, Rita finds Manitas a surgeon, and sends Manitas’ family to the U.S. before the procedure takes place. Soon enough, Manitas undergoes surgery and becomes Emilia Pérez.

Four years later, Rita and Emilia reunite at a dinner. Rita suspects Emilia wants to kill her for knowing her past identity—but Emília wants something else. Miles away, Emilia’s wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), has seen on the news that Manitas has “died.” She has no idea this was a cover up so Manitas could transition and go into hiding. Having been apart for years, Emilia misses her wife and kids, and asks Rita to bring them back to Mexico. Pretending to be Manitas’ “cousin,” Emilia reunites with her family, but Jessi is unhappy being in Mexico with a strange new relative. Jessi wasn’t as unhappy as I was watching Selena Gomez’s terrible acting, that’s for sure.

While having lunch, Rita and Emilia are passed a missing person flier. After speaking with the mother who was handing them out, they learn about a young adult who has gone missing. This is a widespread problem in Mexico: 100,000 people have gone missing as a result of organized crime. Inspired by the cause, Emilia starts a foundation called La Lucecita. Emilia is a drug dealer turned activist, an interesting transformation. Loads of people show up to describe their missing loved ones. After some time, Emilia and Rita decide to coordinate a gala for La Lucecita, and Emilia invites drug dealers, corrupt officials, and crooks who she believes will help financially. I guess she hasn’t completely given up on her old ways.

One afternoon, Emilia meets with a woman named Epifanía who was looking for her husband. The foundation has found him dead, and Epifanía is very relieved because he was abusive. For the film speaking on an issue as serious as the missing persons situation, I thought this was an interesting choice. After their meeting, Emilia asks Epifanía out. The two kiss, start seeing each other, and fall in love. This development was very sudden to me.

Next up, Jessi tells Emilia she’s getting married to a man named Gustavo who she’s been seeing. Being a more bitter than sweet situation, Emilia pretends to be happy for her ex-wife. But suddenly, Jessi breaks the news that she and Gustavo are moving to a mansion in Polanco—and that the kids will be coming with them. Emilia and Jessi get into an argument that turns physical: Emilia pushes Jessi and insists that her kids should stay with her, to which Jessie screams, “¡Son mis hijos! (They’re my children!).” She says this in terrible Spanish, by the way. After this fight, Emilia sends someone to beat up Gustavo and bribe him to leave Mexico. But one day soon after, Emilia finds that all of her family’s belongings are gone—they left in the middle of the night. While speaking to Epifanía at the foundation office, Rita notices the police outside. They tell her that Emilia has been kidnapped.

The following afternoon, someone leaves a blue plastic bag in the office of La Lucecita. Rita opens it alone in her office and finds cut up fingers wrapped with newspapers. Rita calls a number hoping Emilia will pick up, but Gustavo answers—and asks if she received his package. Upon Rita’s request, Gustavo puts Emilia on the line just long enough for her to advise Rita to do whatever her kidnappers ask of her.

After her conversation with Gustavo, Rita calls a man named Ponchi, asking him to bring eight or nine big guys along with him. They get ready for battle, and a woman among the group hands Rita a gun. They cock the guns and whatnot to the beat of a song, which I found so unnecessarily; it downplayed the gravity of the situation. They drive to where Emilia is being held hostage—tied up, bruised, and bloody. Someone violently makes her drink water out of a bottle: it’s Jessi. Realizing Rita’s car is approaching, the kidnappers turn off the lights. Gustavo orders Rita to turn off her headlights and shoots at her.

When Gustavo realizes Rita hasn’t come alone, a full-on shootout begins. For a moment, the shootout pauses, and Emilia inhales the biggest breath. This moment was so unnecessarily dramatic. As the violence proceeds, Emilia recounts her and Jessi’s love story—confessing that she’s Manitas—and asks for forgiveness. I love how they’re having this conversation during a shootout by the way. Then, Gustavo grabs Emilia and puts her in the trunk of his car. Jessi fights Gustavo to stop the car, and he hits her. The two scramble over a gun, fall off a cliff, and the car sets on fire. Rita watches from a distance in horror. At the end of the film, a servant tells Rita the kids are coming. When they arrive, she tells them their mother got in a car accident, and she takes them in as her own. The town commemorates Emilia in a procession, and the credits roll. The End.

Now that we have the plot description out of the way, let’s talk about some highlights. There was a musical number every 5 mins, so if you despise musicals, steer clear. The subtitles put music symbols around literal dialogue, implying they were songs. I guess this was their attempt at rapping. In terms of the singing, it definitely was not the reason why Zoe Saldaña won Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Her first song, “Todo y Nada,” which concerns her law career, is robotic with flat vocals.

And don’t get me started about the “La Vaginoplastia” (penis to vagina) song. After watching that scene alone, I don’t know how the film was considered for any award show. Also, I thought Selena Gomez was a singer, but my ears bled a little during her “Bienvenida” song. Coming from a Spanish speaker, her attempt at the language was atrocious. Her acting is no better, especially when it’s combined with terrible screenwriting. Exhibit A: “My pussy still hurts when I think of you.” These words were spoken during a phone call with Gustavo, which is accompanied by Jessi looking straight at the viewer afterwards. This moment alone is a testament to how unhinged this movie is.

Among the terrible moments, however, I did find the “Papa” song to be touching. This is sung by Emilia’s son, who notices that Emilia smells like his dad. It’s a very bittersweet moment: Emilia is now free to be herself, but her child is grieving his father.

Still, though, the execution of the “Para” song was pretty poor. The song tells the story of thousands of people vowing to search for their missing family members until they find them. It was hard to take seriously, however, when some parts sounded like the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Diary of a Wimpy Kid scene. Perhaps I’m being too critical.

At the La Lucecita gala, Rita sings “El Mal,” condemning the corrupt people present. During the musical number, Rita walks over to a blonde woman, screams “Rubia! (Blonde!),” and then rips a piece of her hair off and puts it on her crotch. I found this completely unnecessary.

Let’s not forget about the “Amor” song (Emilia, Epifanía), which the songwriters performed at the 2025 Oscars during their acceptance speech. I got war flashbacks. And in terms of Jessi’s “Mi Camino” song, even auto tune couldn’t save Selena. Her attempt at speaking Spanish is a mess, especially when she says, “Me quiere robar a mis hijos, y ahora mi lana! (You want to take my kids, and now my money!)”

In conclusion: Aside from the “Papa,” song, there was nothing pleasant about this viewing experience. Emilia Pérez is an absolute joke, and it’s hard to take award shows seriously when they even consider nominating this sort of film. The problematic cast doesn’t make the film any better—especially Karla Sofía Gascon and her resurfaced racist tweets. Yet she had the audacity to show face at the Oscars like nothing. Unbelievable. In an interview, after winning Best Supporting Actress, Zoe Saldaña claimed the heart of Emilia Perez is women, not Mexico, even though the film takes place in Mexico, uses Mexican culture all throughout, and her character is Mexican. What a mess. Overall, I do not recommend watching Emilia Pérez, unless you want to waste your time and give Netflix undeserving money. Proceed with caution.