You might've spotted some awkward looks among actors at today's BAFTAs ceremony the minute Emilia Pérez is brought up. Netflix's Spanish-language musical crime film has 11 nominations at the British Academy Film Awards and 13 Oscar nominations, so why would it trigger such visible (and painful) discomfort?
Despite breaking records for the most nominations earned by an international film, and lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón making history as the first trans actor to receive an Oscar nom, scandal and controversy have marred the film over the past few months.
Accepting Emilia Pérez’s first award from the BAFTAs, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard gave a surprise shout-out to lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who he called ‘dear’.
Sit down and grab a cup of tea, because this is a long one...
What is Emilia Perez about?
The film, written and directed by Jacques Audiard, follows a Mexican cartel boss (played by Karla Sofía Gascón) who secretly has gender-affirming surgery. Zoe Saldaña plays their lawyer, while Selena Gomez portrays a mob wife who thinks her partner is dead.
What was the backlash?
Trans representation
Despite an extremely positive critical response, the online and real-life reception to the film has been abysmal. One of the key criticisms has been the film's representation of trans women. LGBTQ+ organisation Glaad shared a piece titled, '"Emilia Pérez” is Not Good Trans Representation' as early as November last year, adding it was a 'profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman'.
A writer for PinkNews wrote, 'It’s a script that is so alienated from the process of transitioning as a trans woman – and yet blurts falsehoods out with such bold, intense conviction – that you’d think Audiard himself had gone through 500 different gender-affirming surgeries in one sitting.'
Yahoo wrote, 'Emilia Pérez is endlessly subjected to misgendering and deadnaming at every turn while even Emilia herself bizarrely refers to her body as “half he, half she” during a romantic number with another woman.'
It's fair to say people are really upset about how the film depicts trans women, transition and the fact it's written from a cis perspective.
Mexican representation
If that wasn't bad enough, it was the film's depictions of Mexico that really infuriated Mexican viewers. In one X post that's now been viewed 2.7m times, Mexican screenwriter Héctor Guillén tagged the organisation who run the Oscars and said, 'Mexico hates Emilia Pérez/ "Racist Euro Centrist Mockery"/ Almost 500K dead and France decides to do a musical. No Mexicans in their cast or crew.'
Despite tackling Mexico and drug cartels, the film is written and directed by a French filmmaker and was shot near Paris. The cast barely includes any Mexican actors either, as Karla is Spanish; Zoe is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent; and Selena is of Mexican descent. Many have accused the film of offering inauthentic representations of Mexico and its politics as a result.
The film's director has responded to these criticisms, saying the film is an 'opera' and not 'realistic'.
Karla's controversial tweets
You might think the story ends there, but you'd be wrong. Even after these two public scandals, another came through the door in the shape of unearthed tweets from the film's lead actress.
Last month, journalist Sarah Hagi found several tweets from Karla from 2019-2024, and that were still up, where she attacked Muslims, George Floyd and high diversity levels at film awards.
She went on to delete her X account, which caused more criticism. She then organised a CNN en Español interview where she became tearful and compared her issues to those faced by black people, which led to even more backlash.
She's since pulled out from several events tied to the film, including the BAFTAs, while Netflix have distanced themselves and the film from her. Promotional posters for Emilia Perez have been changed to not include her. Variety reported that Netflix was no longer covering Karla's expenses for travel to awards shows.
Selena made a rare public statement, telling the Santa Barbara film festival that 'some of the magic has disappeared', but she continues to be proud of the film. Jacques said he was no longer in contact with Karla following the scandal.