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Are Netflix Normies Ready for Emilia Pérez?

An indefinable musical by a French auteur is headed for millions of streaming subscribers. Most of them will be entirely unprepared.

(I enjoyed Harron Walker unpacking the film’s assumption that, despite the title character’s crimes, the audience will “celebrate her solely for the fact of her transition.”) I’ll briefly note the haters are correct that the movie doesn’t have much to say about the lived experience of trans people. Alyssa Wilkinson calls his performance “unsurprisingly searing and nuanced … his panic showing up like lava pooling below a thin surface, ready to burst through at any moment.” The film might be a tough watch in present circumstances, but if voters can get past that, there’s plenty of room here for them to hand Murphy a victory-lap nomination. (At one point, my notes just became a list of words he made a meal of, from “dinari” to “politics.”) After finally catching Gladiator II this week, I have a hunch it may be a “tons of nominations, no wins” deal, but as long as Denzel’s in the race, the sequel will have a shot at this trophy.

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