Overqualified and undervalued, Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer at a large firm that is more interested in getting criminals off the hook than bringing them to justice. One day, she is given an unexpected way out, when cartel leader Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón) hires her to help him withdraw from his business and realize a plan he has been secretly preparing for years: to become the woman he has always dreamt of being.
Like a rose blooming amid a minefield, it’s a miracle that Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” exists: a south-of-the-border pop opera about a most unlikely metamorphosis and the personal redemption it awakens in a stone-cold criminal.
Peter Debruge Variety 18/05/2024
With Emilia Pérez, [Audiard] has made something fresh, full of vitality and affecting, held aloft by its own quietly soaring power
David Rooney Hollywood Reporter 18/05/2024
Jacques Audiard’s musical is crazy, but also a marvel
Stéphanie Bunburry Deadline 18/05/2024
Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival, 2024, fr
Best performance award, Cannes Film Festival, 2024, fr
Jacques Audiard
Son of French director and dialogue writer Michel Audiard, Jacques Audiard is a French film-maker, screenwriter and former editor.
In the early 80s, he wrote the scripts for Réveillon chez Bob, Mortelle randonnée and Fréquence Meurtre.
In 1994, he made his first films, See How They Fall (César for Best First Film) and A Self-Made Hero (Best Screenplay at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival).
He went on to win several César awards, including three Césars for Best Director – in 2006 for The Beat That My Heart Skipped, in 2010 for A Prophet and in 2019 for The Sisters Brothers – and numerous prizes, including the Palme d’or at the 2015 Cannes Festival for Dheepan and the Jury Prize for Emilia Pérez at the 2024 Cannes Festival.
The actresses in his latest film also all won the Best Actress award at Cannes 2024.
He is a member of the 50/50 collective, which aims to promote gender equality and diversity in the film and audiovisual sector.
