‘Emilia Pérez’ controversies didn’t stop it from dominating the Oscars nominations

Every year without fail, an “Oscars villain” rises from the shadowy depths to wreak havoc and chaos on film bros across the globe. Last year saw Bradley Cooper’s contentious Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro wear that crown, and this year, that particular honor goes to the Spanish-language musical, Emilia Pérez.

Although it totes itself as “an opera that’s not an opera,” Netflix and Pathé’s Emilia Pérez has seemingly hit all the wrong notes with Film Twitter since its premiere in November 2024. Why? Well, for one, the story follows an ex-cartel leader (played by Karla Sofía Gascón) and takes place in Mexico. However, director Jacques Audiard, a Frenchman, chose to shoot the movie in France, making for seriously disorienting visuals that—predictably—look nothing like the neighborhoods of Mexico City. Audiard even admitted that he “didn’t study much” of the Mexican language or culture and decided to cancel an in-person Q&A at the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico over the backlash, per World of Reel.

It’s also worth noting that none of Emilia Pérez’s lead actresses (i.e. Gascón and Zoe Saldaña—Selena Gomez is Mexican-American) are Mexican themselves, putting the film’s whole “representation” thing into question. Speaking of representation, Emilia Pérez certainly gave itself a pat on the back after casting a trans actress as the title character, but really, is that not the literal bare minimum for trans stories?

And yet, despite having sufficiently pissed off what seems like the entire Mexican populace and the LGBTQ+ community, Emilia Pérez is still the frontrunner for this year’s Academy Awards.

“Quite possibly the worst movie ever”: Emilia Pérez earns 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture

At an ungodly hour, we cinephiles dragged ourselves out of bed to watch Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang announce the 2025 Oscar nominations. Popular picks for this year’s ceremony include The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two, Wicked, Conclave, Nickel Boys, A Complete Unknown, and The Substance, all of which snagged several nods, including Best Picture. And while it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Emilia Pérez swept with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted just how much it cleared out in nearly every category.

Let me get this out of the way: I think it’s amazing that Karla Sofía Gascón is the first openly trans woman nominated for an acting Oscar. This role will undoubtedly open doors for her. This kind of representation feels all the more important considering the, ahem, current circumstances here in the U.S. At the same time, moviegoers, especially those from Mexico, are struggling to understand how such a controversial film beat out Challengers and Babygirl in the major categories given its frankly insulting portrayal of cartels—and that penis-to-vagina song probably didn’t help, if I’m being real here.

I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say Emilia Pérez is probably the most-hated Oscars darling since Crash. For the sake of my argument, I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves: Emilia Pérez currently sits at a 33% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.6/5 on Letterboxd. But really, the criticism surrounding the film goes far deeper than statistics; a white man who openly admitted to being uneducated on the nuances of Mexican culture is being praised for making a movie that many deem offensive, and his apology isn’t enough—the damage has already been done.

Emilia Pérez ultimately represents a far greater issue. Hollywood—and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in particular—have a long-standing diversity problem. Until these concerns are addressed system-wide, I fear films like Challengers will continue to be put on the back burner until younger, more open-minded filmmakers eventually take over. I’m still predicting that Anora or The Brutalist will snag Best Picture at this year’s awards, but considering that Emilia Pérez did numbers at the Golden Globes … I remain skeptical.