Netflix has unveiled the trailer for Jacques Audiard’s Cannes-winning musical drama “Emilia Perez,” which is being positioned as one of the streaming giant’s big Oscar contenders this fall. The movie, starring Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, was one of the big sensations at Cannes this year, where it took home the jury prize and the best actress award for Saldaña, Gomez and their co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz.
The official synopsis for “Emilia Perez” from Netflix reads: ‘This odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Gascón) enlists Rita (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” and undergo gender reassignment surgery. The supporting cast includes Edgar Ramírez.
Netflix picked up “Emilia Perez” after its buzzy Cannes premiere. Variety film critic Peter Debruge wrote in his rave review of the movie that it’s an “exhilarating Spanish-language (half-sung) portrait of a former cartel boss’s life-changing transformation.”
“Audiard’s dazzling and instantly divisive film — which stars Zoe Saldaña as the lawyer who helps Manitas transition and Selena Gomez as the mother of their two sons — doesn’t strictly adhere to the codes set by GLAAD and other LGBT advocates, and yet, ‘Emilia Pérez’ emerges as a powerful, unfiltered portrait of someone who challenges several stereotypes at once,” Debruge added. “That’s a testament to leading lady Gascón and the audacity of Audiard, who had the good sense to incorporate Gascón’s personal experience into the character.”
“Emilia Perez” will open in select theaters on Nov. 1 before streaming on Netflix starting Nov. 13. Watch the trailer below.