Jacques Audiard's latest musical crime comedy film Emilia Pérez has already secured France's entry at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature. The movie stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez in the lead cast.
Emilia Pérez had its premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival held on May 18, 2024. It was later released in theatres across France by Pathé on August 21, 2024. The story centers on four women in Mexico who find their lives turned upside down in a world of love and crime.
At the end of Emilia Perez, we see one of the protagonists Emilia (previously going by the identity of Manitas, a drug lord) meeting a tragic end along with her former wife Jessi, as the two try to face reality. All the while, Emilia's consort and friend, Rita, stays by her side and even takes care of her children after her death.
The film has been loosely adapted from the novel Écoute written by Boris Razon. Emilia Pérez premiered on Netflix on November 13, 2024, for viewers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The official synopsis of the movie reads:
"Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia enlists Rita, an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self."
What is the original story of the character Emilia Pérez?
Emilia Pérez begins with the story of an ambitious yet underappreciated lawyer in New York, Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldana). Toiling at her job for years, she remains underpaid and undervalued, while being tangled by deep-rooted s*xism.
After Rita helps defend a case that leaves her questioning her moral values, she gets a call from a mysterious person. The caller (identifying himself as drug cartel lord Juan 'Manitas' Del Monte) offers to pay Rita a huge sum of money in exchange for legal help in a gender-affirming surgery.
After hearing about Manitas' struggle with gender dysmorphia and the urge to start a new life, Rita agrees to help him. She visits Bangkok and Tel Aviv looking for doctors and is finally able to arrange something for Manitas.
Manitas, now known as Emilia Pérez (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), starts living under the new identity. In the meanwhile, Rita fakes Manitas' death to his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and helps her to restart her life with her children.
Does Emilia reunite with her family?
Rita starts a new journey with a lot of wealth and leaves Mexico. But a few years later, she comes across Emilia in London where the latter reveals that she wants to get her family back.
So, with the help of Rita, Jessi returns to Mexico City with her children and meets Emilia, who introduces herself as a distant relative of Juan 'Manitas' Del Monte. Jessi does not feel right about the situation and hesitates to live with an unknown person. So, she goes away to live with an old lover named Gustavo.
What happens at the end of Emilia Pérez?
In the meanwhile, Emilia reflects on all the dark deeds she has done in her past because of her chance encounter with a missing child's mother. She was also involved in similar things when she worked for the cartel.
So, along with Rita, Emilia opens a non-profit organization working for people who have lost their close ones to activities involving drug cartels. While doing the good work, Emilia comes across a woman named Epifanía, who also benefits from the organization's service. The two soon develop feelings for each other.
On the other hand, Jessi becomes closer to Gustavo and makes plans for marriage. She also decides to start a family with him and her children. As Emilia learns about the whole situation, she claims the children to be hers.
Things get heated between the three, and as Emilia describes things from the past with absolute accuracy, Jessi is left in shock to learn the truth behind her husband (now going by Emilia). She captures Emilia (who has now grown aggressive) with the help of Gustavo.
But Jessi soon realizes it all and understands that Emilia does not have any reason to lie about all that. In a showdown between Jessi and Gustavo, their car crashes. Jessi, Emilia, and Gustavo all turn up dead in a tragic accident.
As the movie ends, we see Rita becoming the legal guardian of Jessi and Emilia's children. Moreover, the non-profit organization started by Emilia keeps up the good work even in her absence.
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