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There have been a lot of different cinematic trends over the years. Some seem to come and go in cycles, like 3D, others build and build then just filter out as I suspect is soon going to happen with legacy sequels. One that has been around in some respect for a while but certainly seems to be having a surge right now is something I am calling the ‘Oh, and it’s a musical’ movement. Take Anna and the Apocalypse; a teenage zombie film and Christmas movie that is set in rural Wales, oh and it’s a musical. Then there’s Annette which is the filmic tale of an obtuse comedian and his singer wife who are finally blessed with their first baby only for the child to turn out to be a marionette, oh and it’s a musical. There’s also the recent origin story of Willy Wonka who fights evil chocolate barons in a whimsical London, oh and it’s a musical, and of course the follow up to Joker that has the twisted protagonist fantasising about a love affair as he faces trial for his anarchic crimes, oh and it’s a musical. Song and dance pictures have been around for decades of course but it seems that the film industry is currently looking to apply the tropes of the genre onto a whole range of movies where you perhaps wouldn’t normally find them.

Now we have Emilia Pérez; a film from a French director, made in the Spanish language, about a Mexican drug lord who starts a new life as a woman only to fall back in with those people that knew her before and who do not realise that the lady they are interacting with is the same person they once knew under very different circumstances, alongside which sits a crime thriller aspect with a fascinating balance of drama and comedy with a moving narrative about the trans journey and someone’s desire for redemption and acceptance. Oh, and it’s a musical. 

There is a lot in the press right now documenting Joker: Folie à Deux’s misjudgment and failure so it is not as though these unorthodox films always work, but if there is any justice Emelia Pérez is going to be a hit. It opens in cinemas on October 25th before it going to streaming on Netflix on November 13th so there is every opportunity for it to find an audience and I really hope gets a substantial one; all of it’s juxtaposed elements work brilliantly and it deserves to be widely seen and celebrated. If you can work with it, then there is literally something here for everyone. Parisian filmmaker Jacques Audiard has already given us movies as varied as A Prophet, Rust and Bone and The Sister Brothers but here he shows even greater mastery of the medium than before and in doing so has created something that feels like a significant cinematic event. 

Let’s start where the publicity has; with the performances. At the heart of this are four excellent female actors, lead by Spanish star Karla Sofía Gascón. Gascón is trans herself and plays first Manitas and then Emelia with such intensity. This doesn’t go away as she moves into her new life but she couples it with a lightness while almost imperceptibly maintaining a simmering menace. It’s a fantastic character study that she and Audiard have pitched perfectly. It is somehow both the most and the least showy appearance in the film.

Supporting her all the way through is Zoe Saldana who is almost unrecognisable from her turns as Gamora, Uhura and Neyteri even though she looks essentially the same (okay, maybe not in that last case). In another example of how this movie demonstrates dichotomy at almost every opportunity, she is vulnerable and powerful in somehow equal measure. Playing Manitas ex-wife is Selena Gomez and for her it is a nice departure from the roles she is known for. Based on this she could move as far away from her pop star and Disney Channel image as Zendaya has and much is promised from here on. Adriana Paz has not got her name on the poster, and hers is a smaller part but at Cannes this year all four were jointly and deservedly awarded Best Actress and it is a great ensemble.

If I had to pick anyone out I would say this is mostly Saldana’s film. She holds it all together and even with Selena Gomez in the mix she most excels in the musical aspects. Her energy and command of the singing and dancing is exceptional and these are some of the best parts of the movie. The tunes are not immediately hummable but they work so well in context and again, they never jar. 

Underpinning everything is the story though. This is a narrative that never quite goes where you expect and is by turns thrilling, funny and emotional. Given Gascón’s own history this may not be a surprise but the LGBTQ+ elements are so well managed. When I was describing the plot to a friend I said it was about a criminal who fakes their death and hides out as a woman and then had to suddenly add that this wasn’t like Nuns on the Run despite how I had just made it sound. This is a wonderful contemporary tale that sensitively explores the transition that is increasingly becoming an excepted norm for many people. 

As a crime movie it also works as well, and as a social commentary. There is so much going on that it is frankly a wonder it coheres so neatly. It didn’t win the Palm d’Or but it did get the Audience Prize and back in 2000 when Dancer in the Dark got actress and the big prize on the Croisette, it didn’t lead to success at the Oscars.I’d be surprised if this one doesn’t though. Anyone who loves film is going to want to award this.

Dancer in the Dark incidentally featured Bjork as a young mother, suffering from impending blindness as well as getting mixed up in a murder and ending up on death row, oh and it’s a musical. This is the one in this growing grouping that balances everything the best though and it’s kind of remarkable how it does.

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Emelia Pérez had a Gala Performance at the London Film Festival on Friday 11th October and plays again on Sunday 20th.