The ending of Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez” was both poignant and where the film felt its most hypocritical. Perhaps that’s the essence of the controversial film that’s nominated for 13 Oscars. After the film climaxes in a predictable shootout, the title character − a Mexican cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery and is reborn as an activist − is sanctified and immortalized. Her image is resurrected in the form of a life-size Virgen de Guadalupe as mourners lead a procession. Emilia − played by Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, the first openly transgender best actress nominee − is atoned and forgiven for the deaths she’s responsible for as a drug kingpin.
A powerful and moving scene, for sure, but it leaves a sour taste. Are we just ignoring that she was a cartel leader for much longer than she was a woman of the people, helping Mexican citizens find the remains of loved ones killed by organized crime?
The film, directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard and starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Mexican actress Adriana Paz, was seemingly a strong Oscar contender. Then Gascón’s racist and xenophobic social media posts resurfaced in the thick of awards season, shifting how it was received by audiences and voters alike.
The problem with “Emilia Pérez,” however, didn’t start with Gascón’s tweets. It began with the movie’s representation of Mexico and how it depicted one of the country’s most vulnerable groups of people.
For decades, Mexico has dealt with a drug problem that’s caused the mass disappearance of people at the hands of criminal organizations in the country.
Since 2006, Human Rights Watch reports, Mexico has seen an estimated 90,000 disappearances, and more than 460,000 homicides including politicians, students and journalists, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Between 2007 and 2023, the Mexican government counted nearly 6,000 clandestine graves, per the International Center for Transitional Justice.