Emilia Pérez (2024)

Emilia Pérez centers its plot on the transformation of a Mexican cartel boss into a trans woman, presenting this process as the path to personal fulfillment and family reconciliation. The protagonist, Maneskin/Emilia, abandons his criminal life to undergo gender reassignment surgery, and his children accept her as their mother without question, which normalizes the redefinition of parental and sexual roles as something natural and liberating. This vision is enveloped in a vibrant musical that uses emotion and music to make the viewer lower their guard against ideas contrary to common sense about human identity. The violence is graphic: shootings, executions, and cartel tensions that show a raw, though not sadistic, world. There is sensuality in dance numbers with partial nudity and romantic tension between women, in addition to foul language typical of the criminal environment. Although it touches on themes of redemption and motherhood, the ideological core prioritizes subjective self-definition over biological reality, asking the audience to celebrate the transition as heroism. For parents, this poses a risk: it invites them to see identity confusion as a desirable aspiration, especially in a family context. The work shines in its artistic audacity, but its underlying message disorients more than it orients towards stable and authentic bonds.