Selenators, allow me to be frank: Selena Gomez will not win an Oscar for Emilia Pérez. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But after a press screening at New York Film Festival on Monday, I’m here to report that Gomez—though she gives a fine performance—does not have an Oscar-worthy role in Netflix’s buzzy upcoming musical. But Zoe Saldaña does. Emilia Pérez will not be Gomez’s Oscar moment, but it might just be Saldaña’s.
Written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez is a Spanish-language “musical crime comedy” about a Mexican lawyer, Rita (Saldaña), who agrees to help a notorious drug cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) secretly transition to a new life as a woman. Rita moves the cartel leader’s wife, Jessi (Gomez), and their two children to a remote home in Switzerland. She tells Jessi that her husband has found himself in deep trouble, and that this is the only way to keep them safe.
Four years later, the former cartel leader has embraced her new life as a woman named Emilia Pérez. But Emilia misses her children. She seeks out Rita to help her once more—this time not to disappear from her family’s life, but to re-enter it. Rita introduces Emilia to her former wife and kids as a long-lost aunt, and, at Emilia’s insistence, gets sucked into Emilia’s chaotic orbit.
As Rita, Saldaña balances the tightrope walk between competence and vulnerability. She’s undervalued at her job, where she helps murderers walk free. But she’s good at it—and Saldaña masterfully portrays Rita’s simultaneous guilt and pride. If any viewers were unaware that the Star Trek actress speaks fluent Spanish, they won’t be after this film. Saldana’s speaks, sings, and chants with absolute ease. The same cannot be said for Gomez, who occasionally switches to English, for no discernible reason other than her lack of fluency. (That’s less of an indictment of Gomez’s acting prowess than it is of Audiard’s casting choice.)
The musical numbers are the weakest portion of the film, but Saldaña’s singing is anything but weak. She belts out with strength—a talent buried under all the controversy of her Nina Simone biopic, but, perhaps, one that the world is finally ready for. In one particularly strong number, she demands to the heavens to know how much longer she must suffer indignities before she gets her due. It’s fierce, rousing, and, yes, Oscar-worthy. Gomez gets one break-out song and dance number of her own, but—whether because of the forgettable music, the Spanish-language, or the cluttered choreography—the performance doesn’t stand out as awards bait in the same way as Saldaña’s.
Emilia Pérez would be Saldaña’s first Oscar-nomination, and it seems likely she will get it. Variety reported that both Saldaña and Gomez will be submitted for Best Supporting Actress consideration, while Gascón, who plays Emilia, will be submitted for Best Actress. All three actresses already took home the ensemble-based “Best Actress” award at Cannes. Unfortunately for Gomez, competing alongside Saldaña means that the pop singer would need a rousing campaign to even get a nomination, given Saldaña’s more prominent role in the film. (Arguably, Saldaña is the movie’s lead and should have been submitted for Best Actress, with Gascón and Gomez for Supporting—but that’s Oscar politics for you.)
Don’t worry, Selenators. This surely won’t be Gomez’s last chance for an Academy Award. She keeps getting Emmy nominations for Only Murders in the Building, after all. But for now, Saldaña hive: It’s time to rise.
Emilia Perez will open in U.S. theaters on November 1, before streaming on Netflix on November 13.
