Karla Sofía Gascón’s Racist Tweets and the Cautionary Tale of ‘Emilia Pérez’

variety.com:

Alison Herman TV Critic The title character of “Emilia Pérez” is not a good person. Her lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), thinks she can become one, agreeing to facilitate a notorious cartel leader’s gender transition in part because “Changing the body changes the soul / Changing the soul changes society / Changing society changes everything.” (“Emilia Pérez” is a musical, so these lines are delivered in song.) But the ensuing story thoroughly disproves Rita’s thesis; Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) herself may think she’s changed inside as well as out, throwing herself into a nonprofit dedicated to helping victims of the very organizations she once led, but she soon gives into her own worst impulses.

When Emilia threatens violence against her ex-wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), who’s unaware of her identity, for potentially moving their children away, it sets off a deadly chain of events that claim Emilia’s life.

In the end, Emilia can’t outrun the sins of her past, and she pays the ultimate price for them. Such moral realism stands out in what’s otherwise a proudly fantastical film.

In “Emilia Pérez,” a pre-surgery consultation can become a borderline Busby Berkeley number, but a murderer can’t become a saint just by embracing their long-repressed identity.