Emilia Pérez(2024)
Submitted by Julio M
13 Oscar nominations – including Best Picture and Best International Picture
Short pooper:
Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón), Jessi (Selena Gómez) and Gustavo (Édgar Ramírez) die in a car crash. Rita (Zoe Saldaña) offers to become the legal guardian of Jessi and Emilia’s/Manitas’ two children. Epifanía (Adriana Paz) publicly reveres the legacy and work of Emilia.
Longer version:
While Emilia finds pleasure in her new life as a woman, using her resources and connections to create and boast a non-profit organization called LA LUCECITA, which helps recover the remains of past victims of drug crime and bring closure to their families -this lands her on a relationship with Epifanía, the surviving widow of one of said victims-, she also starts to feel the toll of living the lie of pretending to be “a distant relative of Manitas who is selflessly helping Jessi and the children”, without being able to disclose whom she really is -despite the fact that her oldest son recognizes on her the smell of her former male self-.
Meanwhile, Jessi, who reluctantly had agreed to return to Mexico with the children, decided to reacquaint with former lover Gustavo -whom she was having a secret affair with, prior to Manitas’/Emilia’s planned disappearance- and rekindled their relationship, which grows into formal plans to get married and relocate with the children. Emilia gets furious upon finding out about this, asserts she will not let “HER children” be moved away from her and attacks Jessi. Seeing this, Jessi flees with the children and, in retaliation, Emilia severs all of her benefits and has Gustavo beaten and threatened to leave Mexico immediately or be killed.
Gustavo and Jessi concoct a plan to abduct Emilia, which they do and demand a ransom from Rita. In a desperate attempt to recover Emilia at all cost, Rita summons the assistance of a security team at the same time she arrives at the appointed place where the exchange of the ransom for Emilia were to take place. She attempts to negotiate with Gustavo so he and Jessi can let Emilia go with no bloodshed, but a shootout starts. It is here that Emilia finally discloses to Jessi she used to be her husband, drug kingpin Manitas Del Monte, by revealing some key details of their past that only Manitas would know. Still dumbfounded by this, Jessi nonetheless is convinced by Gustavo to force Emilia into the trunk of his car and flee. However, slowly coming to terms with everything and guilt-ridden, she tries to struggle with Gustavo, at gunpoint, to stop and release Emilia. This causes the car to lose control and crash, killing all three.
A distraught Rita, having learned of this incident, informs the two children and offers to become their legal guardian, so they will not be lost to the system. In the end, Epifanía sings one last song while marching on the street, in which she reminisces of Emilia and “her valiant fight for truth and freedom”, unaware of whom Emilia used to be and her role in the original disappearance and murder of Epifanía’s husband.