Selena Gomez, Zoe Salda?a Star in the Eye-Popping Trailer for Queer Narco Thriller Musical ‘Emilia Pérez’
The first trailer for one of this year’s wildest Cannes Film Festival hits — the narco thriller musical about a transgender cartel boss, Emilia Pérez — has finally arrived.
Helmed by French director Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez centers around the story of the titular Mexican cartel leader, played by Karla Sofía Gascón, who fakes her own death to evade authorities and finally receive gender-affirming care. The film also stars Zoe Salda?a as Rita, the lowly lawyer Emilia enlists to help her pull off this scheme, and Selena Gomez as Emilia’s now-estranged spouse, Jessi Del Monte.
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The new trailer doesn’t give much else away, though it’s packed with plenty of eye-popping imagery. And, unlike a lot of movie musicals these days, Emilia Pérez definitely isn’t trying to hide that it’s a musical, prominently featuring one of its original songs in the trailer and showcasing clips from a few big dance numbers, too.
Along with Gascón, Sanda?a, and Gomez, Emilia Pérez stars Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez. The film’s score was composed by Clément Ducol, while the French singer and actress Camille wrote the songs for the film with the help of a Mexican translator.
Emilia Pérez was one of the breakout films from Cannes this year, earning one of the festival’s longest standing ovations. The film won the Jury Prize; Gascón, Gomez, Paz, and Salda?a all shared Best Actress; and Ducol and Camille won the Soundtrack Award.
In his review, Rolling Stone’s David Fear called Emilia Pérez “a strong contender for being the wildest movie to screen” at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. He added later: “We love Audiard’s work to death, and Emilia Pérez proves that he refuses to play anything safe; the equal amount of tongue-in-cheek gestures and sincerely tender exchanges makes this one of the bigger swings in his career.”
Emilia Pérez will arrive in select theaters on November 1 before hitting Netflix on November 13.
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