Emilia Pérez is back in the headlines once again after scooping 13 Oscar nominations - making it the most-nominated film at this year's Awards, and the most-nominated non-English language film in Oscars history.
The Netflix film also broke records at the Golden Globes, becoming the second-most-nominated film in their history, and the first non-English language film to win best picture.
The story follows the story of a Mexican lawyer who is offered the job of helping a cartel boss retire, and transition into a woman.
The musical-thriller stars the likes of Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana, and Karla Sofía Gascón in some of its leading roles.
But its unique storytelling and all-star cast isn't what's gaining attention. In fact, not that many people seem to really like the film at all, with many critics dubbing the representations in it - whether of the LGBT+ community or Mexico - "inauthentic".
Netflix
"The more trans and queer critics began to publish their thoughts, the clearer it became that there was a profound disconnect here", The Independentwrote.
"Emilia Pérez suffers so profoundly from a lack of cohesion – musical, thematic, and narrative – that it is impossible to gain much of anything from it."
Glaad, the LGBTQ advocacy organisation, stated in a piece on Autostraddle: “Certainly, this shallow understanding of trans people can’t still be interesting to cis people. How many times do cis people have to learn about us before a portrayal like this one rings as false to them as it does to me?”
Others were upset that French director, Jacques Audiard, was trying to tell the stories of lives he's far-removed from.
Here's how the internet reacted to its Oscar nominations...
I can’t even wrap my head around ‘Emilia Pérez’ getting THIRTEEN (13!!!) #Oscars nominations.
Quite possibly the worst movie ever (mid-scores from audiences & critics) to get double digit nominations. Baffling. pic.twitter.com/xbIwQnUgSM
— Jeff D. Lowe (@JeffDLowe) January 23, 2025
The film has a 34 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes
Emilia Pérez is officially one of the worst films to ever be nominated for an academy award. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/55rHSOWNCv
— Films to Films (@filmstofilms_) January 23, 2025
Some viewers compared its success to Oppenheimer, which was applauded by critics globally
emilia pérez and oppenheimer having the same amount of oscar nominations pic.twitter.com/Gv0ND6ey6c
— val (@lalalandism) January 23, 2025
emilia pérez was one nomination away from being tied as the most oscar nominated film in history………………
— nick (@lovechazelle) January 23, 2025
And the LGBT+ community wasn't happy about the way it portrayed their experiences
Every win for Emilia Perez is a loss for transgender filmmakers because these voting entities are so desperate to APPEAR to award trans people and recognize their work that they'll give c*s people that tell our stories badly 12 awards and then forget we exist for the next decade.
— Mia Moore (@StopTweetingMia) January 6, 2025
The more in-depth reviews aren't exactly shining either.
Some critics were glad about the film's "progressive" storyline, however others cited "bad translations" and "cheesy songs" as reasons why it "wasn't worthy" of such high praise during awards season.
"Terrible Spanish accent and a disgraceful way to paint how mexicans look like in real life, that's what you get when a French director choose American actors who does't speak Spanish as their main language to act in a sort of Mexican movie", one reviewer wrote.
But, the cast haven't responded to the criticism, and seem to remain optimistic about its success.
Karla Sofía Gascón, the film's trans lead, told the crowd as she swooped Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival: "I just want to send a message of hope with all of this... we all have the opportunity to change for the better, to be better people... I hope you change, you b*******."
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