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How Netflix’s ‘Emilia Pérez’ Emerged as a Top Awards Season Contender Despite Online Backlash
Thanks to an expensive and clever campaign, Netflix has transformed a hugely divisive film into a Golden Globe winner with top awards potential.
At a period in the industry when there’s much concern around cultural appropriation and the need for authenticity in front of and behind the camera, “Emilia Perez” managed to triumph despite the fact that its director isn’t trans, doesn’t speak Spanish, shot the entire movie in France rather than Mexico (where it takes place) and did so with a cast of actresses who were chosen regardless of their nationalities (the main trio aren’t Mexican). But this isn’t the only backlash “Emilia Perez” has faced, with there being a stark contrast between its awards domination and online discourse, where many continue to attack the film over a number of factors, most notably its representation of Latina women that many have deemed offensively stereotypical and the use of trans identity as a redemptive tool for a murderous criminal protagonist. In spite of his limited English and introverted nature, Audiard — who is one of France’s best known filmmakers, having won a Palme d’Or with “Dheepan” in 2015 and an Oscar nom with “A Prophet” in 2010 — has been campaigning non-stop for a movie that marks his big comeback after a couple films that mostly fell under the radar, including his English-language debut “The Sisters Brothers” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal, and most recently the sensual relationship drama “Paris, 13th District.”
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