Emilia Pérez

Emilia Pérez is a 2024 musical crime comedy film written and directed by Jacques Audiard. It stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Édgar Ramírez. The original songs for the film were contributed by Camille, while its original score was provided by Clément Ducol. The choreographic sections of the film are signed by Damien Jalet.

The film premiered on 18 May 2024 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in its main competition section, where it won the Jury Prize and its female ensemble won the Best Actress award.

Premise
Disgruntled lawyer Rita is tasked with assisting an escaped Mexican cartel leader in undergoing sex reassignment surgery to both evade the authorities and affirm her gender.

Production
In January 2022, Télérama released a 5-episode program covering in detail Audiard's pre-production for the film. Audiard developed the film's screenplay from what was originally intended to be an opera libretto in four acts. The title character was inspired by a chapter from Boris Razon's 2018 novel Écoute. Emilia Pérez marks the first time Audiard has written a film alone. However, Thomas Bidegain, who co-wrote several films with Audiard, served as a creative collaborator on the film. Clément Ducol composed the original score for the film, while French singer Camille wrote all of the original songs, with the assistance of a Mexican translator, and performed them for the demo. Damien Jalet choreographed the musical sequences.

Filming was set to begin in autumn 2022 but was delayed by six months due to scheduling conflicts with the cast members. It was originally set to take place on location in Mexico but was moved to a studio near Paris instead, in accordance with Audiard's wishes. The interior scenes will include a reconstruction of an "authentic Mexican backdrop". Audiard stated that the studio setting would afford him the ability to "produce more form" and give him "more freedom for the parts that are sung and choreographed." Principal photography began in May 2023 in the Île-de-France region, before wrapping on 5 July 2023.

The film is produced by Pascal Caucheteux through his company Why Not Productions, and also by Audiard and Valérie Schermann through their company Page 114; in coproduction with France 2 Cinéma and Mexico's Pimienta Films. In February 2024, Anthony Vaccarello's Saint Laurent Productions, a division of the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, boarded the film as a co-producer. Vaccarello also created the costumes for the film.

Release
Emilia Pérez was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 May 2024. The film received a standing ovation with reports that it lasted either nine minutes or 11 minutes.

World sales are handled by The Veterans. Shortly after its premiere, Netflix beat out multiple studios and was in negotiations to acquire distribution rights to the film for North America and the United Kingdom for $12 million; the deal ultimately closed at $8 million instead. The film is scheduled to be theatrically released in France on 21 August 2024 by Pathé.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 17 critic reviews indicating "generally favorable" reviews.