There’s at least one in every awards season.  I’m talking about an Oscar-touted flick which, for whatever reason, I think is overrated.  They’re not particularly bad films but, out of the 200 odd movies I’d see each year, they’re not even close to making my annual top 10.  Recent examples which spring to mind include Elvis, CODA, Promising Young Woman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Bohemian Rhapsody. 

The movie which fills that spot from the current crop is Emilia Pérez, the latest from 72-year-old director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet), which has been hyped since it won the Jury Prize (quasi 3^rd place) at the Cannes Film Festival last May.  It recently won the Golden Globe for best musical/comedy and is likely to be showered with Oscar nominations when soon released.

There aren’t a lot of songs, but the film is classified as a “musical” and is centred on a powerful Mexican gang leader, Manitas (Gascón).  Background details are scant but from what we see in a quick introduction, he’s a much-feared individual with a small army of henchmen who help carry out illegal drug trades and murders.

What happens next is not something I’ve seen in a gangster flick before.  Manitas wants “out” of the crime business, and he also wants to fulfill a long-time ambition of having a sex change operation.  He engages the services of as astute lawyer, Rita (Saldaña), to serve as organiser and confidant.  The plan is to fake his own death, have the required surgery, and begin a completely new life.  Manitas will completely leave his past behind – including his wife Jessi (Gomez) and two young children.

We then skip four years ahead where Manitas, now a woman named Emilia Pérez, is happy with life… with one exception.  She misses her kids!  To fix this issue, she weaves her way back into their world by pretending to be Manitas’s long-lost cousin and moving back in with the family.  It’s like a darker retelling of Mrs. Doubtfire – not even Jessi realises the woman living in her home is the husband she believes is dead.

It’s a convoluted narrative which I struggled to buy into.  Why did Manitas want to live life as a woman and leave the family behind?  Was it that easy to fake a death and disappear without a trace?  What had Emilia been doing for the last few years?  Did no one suspect anything?  Stars Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña deliver credible performances but it’s not enough to overcome the limitations of the screenplay.

My biggest grievance is the redemptive character arc provided to Manitas/Emilia.  The current day individual is a kind-hearted person who starts a charitable business but why?  Does having a sex change operation also transform your personality?  Given Rita knows Emilia’s murderous past, why does she keep working with them?  Jacques Audiard pushes too hard in making the title character a likeable hero.  I wanted to them judged more harshly.  If you murder someone and then show the cops where the body is buried, does that make you a nice guy?

I’ll applaud the film’s cinematography and unorthodox musical approach.  It’s weird… but in an entertaining, attention-grabbing way.  I only wish I felt as positively about the script.