‘Emilia Pérez’ and its failure to actually care

Movie adaptations of musicals are always hit or miss, which is why the massive success of “Wicked” was so refreshing. After last year’s disastrous “Mean Girls” adaptation, I had nearly lost hope that filmmakers could do justice to musical movies. And if “Mean Girls” made me lose hope, then “Emilia Pérez” buried it. 

Where do I even begin? The film suffers from atrocious lyrics, weak storytelling and an unnecessarily long intro packed with nearly two minutes of logos, but let’s start with the casting. 

Despite being set in Mexico, the film features few Mexican actors. While some cast members are Latino or Hispanic, Adriana Paz was the only actress actually from Mexico, while Karla Sofía Gascón is from Spain. 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only ignorant decision behind the film. The French-to-Spanish translations weren’t done properly and the movie leans heavily on stereotypes. Worst of all, the director openly admitted he didn’t research Mexican culture or the cartel because he believed he “knew enough” to make his film.

Unsurprisingly, while “Emilia Pérez” may have received critical acclaim globally, its reception in Mexico has been largely negative, with many viewers calling it disrespectful to the culture.

And that’s all before even touching on the plot. 

The story follows a cartel leader, Manitas del Monte, who fakes his death, transitions into a woman (now Emilia Pérez) and tries to reconnect with his family. The problem? The film glosses over the countless horrific crimes Manitas committed. 

The transition is framed as a get-out-of-jail-free card, as if becoming Emilia Pérez absolves her of the past. The narrative tries to suggest she’s changed into a better person, and while she does do some good, such as starting a nonprofit, she treats her ex-wife horribly. 

From the very few lines of dialogue, I could understand (even if you can understand the interesting accents, a lot of the Spanish didn’t seem to make sense), Emilia wanted to keep her kids, but Jessi (Emilia’s ex-wife), wanted to run off with her new lover and take their kids. 

They try to paint Jessi as selfish for this—as if we didn’t witness Emilia make more objectively selfish decisions throughout the film.

Then there’s the music. Musicals can have goofy lyrics, but even the silliest ones carry some artistry. 

“Emilia Pérez” fails completely in this regard. The lyrics don’t feel like poetic storytelling—they’re just spoken lines awkwardly sung. The result is more like a choppy script with music slapped on top.

Overall, the movie is a complete mess, riddled with ignorance and misguided creative choices. The director has defended his approach, insisting he wanted to tell his story and that cultural accuracy wasn’t a priority. 

But when a film is set in Mexico, tells a story about the culture and involves complex themes of crime and redemption, dismissing the need for research and authenticity is irresponsible.

At the end of the day, “Emilia Pérez” is one of the worst musical adaptations I’ve seen. It’s not just bad—it’s frustratingly careless. If this is the direction musical films are heading, then the industry has a serious problem.