Netflix has revealed a first look at Emilia Pérez, the double Cannes-winning film from writer and director Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet). The film has been rated R for language, some violent content, and sexual material.
Emilia Pérez will open in select U.S. and Canadian theaters on November 1, 2024. It will then begin streaming on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, and UK on November 13.
Netflix describes Emilia Pérez as “an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations.” 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 (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), 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. The movie also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Edgar Ramírez.
“You have a musical that is not a musical, an action movie that’s not an action movie, a drama that’s not a drama, a comedy that’s not a comedy,” star Karla Sofía Gascón told Netflix blog Tudum. “It is such a great gift, and I’m so proud to be part of it.”
“Rita wishes that she would just have this one opportunity, just any opportunity that will make her break out and break this glass ceiling that she finds herself never being able to shatter,” Saldaña added. “And when the opportunity presents itself, she doesn’t think twice. She just takes it.”
Selena Gomez plays Emilia’s wife, Jessi. “In the beginning of the film, Jessi is very much content with the life that she’s living with the family in Mexico, and that’s kind of where she was rooted,” Gomez said. “I think she gets so discombobulated once there is a sudden move, and she doesn’t know what to do.”
Audiard told Tudum that Boris Razon’s novel Écoute initially inspired him, but the book only served as a starting point. “Halfway through the book, a transgender drug dealer comes along who wishes to have surgery,” Audiard said. “As the character wasn’t that developed over the following chapters, I decided to start my story there.”
“It was described to me as this film noir that didn’t really exist in any of the conventional kind of genres, but it was a musical,” Saldaña said about the script. “It was actually an opera and based in a crime world, but there was going to be a sense of justice, validation, and sanctification. And I was just like, ‘What?’ I had to read it more than once. And then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
“Emilia Pérez is a phenomenal role,” Gascón said. “It’s a dream role that is hard to find because it has so much depth, so much richness. And for an actor to get into it, it needs a lot of dedication, and a lot of work because you have two voices that also sing with a Mexican accent. It is so huge.”
Audiard planned much of the production around making sure Saldaña could participate. “Zoe ticked all the boxes all at once — she could sing and dance as a lead dancer; plus, her acting is strikingly charismatic,” he said. “She really wanted to do the film, but she was busy. We waited for her for a year.”
Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valérie Schermann, and Anthony Vaccarello are the producers. Pauline Lamy is the executive producer, and the score and songs are by Clément Ducol and Camille.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to provide the latest news on streaming, movies, and TV shows. He previously created the websites ComingSoon, SuperHeroHype, and ShockTillYouDrop.