Assessing the Emilia Pérez Backlash

This Editorial Contains Some Spoilers for Emilia Pérez

On October 30, 2024 I attended a morning press screening of Emilia Pérez in advance of its theatrical run at the TIFF Lightbox. A month or so earlier, the film was a runner-up for the TIFF People’s Choice Award. My first reaction upon exiting the theatre is that I enjoyed this Mexican cartel musical telling the tragic story of its titular transgender protagonist. However, I was in the minority at this particular screening.

I exited into the lobby of the TIFF Lightbox to see other Toronto critics, including Adam Nayman and Sarah-Tai Black, verbally expressing disdain for the film. I asked my friend Paolo Kagaoan, an openly gay critic, if I should feel bad for liking Emilia Pérez and they responded that it was OK, since they have other cis and straight friends who also liked Emilia Pérez. That interaction set the stage for our podcast discussion on the film. However, now that Emilia Pérez is a leading 2025 Oscar nominee with 13 nominations, the backlash against the film is starting to get louder.

Emilia Pérez Accused of Being Transphobic and Racist

Today, I came across a CBC report on the backlash, featuring interviews with film critics Sarah-Tai Black and Ricardo Gallegos Ramos about the transphobic and racist elements present in Emilia Pérez, which was written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard. These are criticisms that I do not disagree with. In fact, despite ultimately liking Emilia Pérez, I still criticized the transphobic lyrics of the songs “Vaginoplasty” and “Lady,” as well as the confused and deadnaming response of Selena Gomez‘s Jessi when she finds out Emilia Pérez was previously her husband Manitas.

My friend and fellow autistic critic Jaime Rebanal, who is non-binary, is one of the biggest detractors of Emilia Pérez who I know. In their TIFF 2024 review of Emilia Pérez, Jamie writes:

Emilia Pérez is constantly deadnamed and misgendered by people around her, even one of the film’s many musical numbers seems dead set on referring to her own past, as prior to this new life that she lives for herself. It feels like this film is built around talking down Emilia Pérez in order to remind her of her past circumstances. But there’s no real drive to interrogate these circumstances, let alone why there’s such a transphobic attitude towards the presence of someone who wishes to move out of a past life or identity in a condescending manner.

Emilia Pérez Getting Harder to Defend

As a personal policy, I do not go usually back and regrade films after I have written my review, opting for them to be representations of my opinions at the time I watched the film. However, as the backlash against Emilia Pérez grows louder, it is getting harder for me to defend the film. After the announcement of the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards, Letterboxd released an infographic ranking the Best Picture nominees by their average rating, with leading nominee Emilia Pérez being dead last.

Even with the growing backlash, there are still a sizeable level of support for Emilia Pérez. Arguably the biggest supporter of the film in my circle of friends is film critic, and sometimes podcast co-host, Ulkar Alakbarova who wrote a five star review of Emilia Pérez and greatly celebrated the film’s wins at the Golden Globes. Even I personally still stand by my own four star review of the film, though in hindsight it is more about me enjoying (most of) the songs and the tragic story, rather than its sociopolitical themes.

We’ll have to wait and see if the backlash against Emilia Pérez will affect the film’s Oscar chances. That said, some of the film’s 13 nominations are almost guaranteed wins, such as Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Song for either “El Mal” or “Mi Camino.” I for sure will be watching on March 2 to see if the biggest nominee for the 97th Academy Awards ends up being shut out due to controversy.