Selena Gomez’s trans gangster film Emilia Pérez gets release date and trailer
Selena Gomez in the trailer for Emilia Pérez (Pathé)
Selena Gomez’s critically acclaimed trans gangster film Emilia Pérez finally has a release date in the UK and US, as well as a full trailer.
The Spanish-language musical, described as a “masterpiece” by critics, follows the story of a Mexico City lawyer who is hired by a trans cartel leader named Manitas so she can help her flee the country with her children and wife (Selena Gomez) in order to seek gender-affirming surgery.
In the trailer, the lawyer and cartel leader meet again after she begins transitioning, to which she says: “Manitas is dead. I am Emilia Pérez.”
Rolling Stone‘s review describes the musical as “one of those films in which description on a page can’t do justice to the delirium onscreen.”
According to Gomez, who stars in the movie alongside Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón, the first transgender actress to win at Cannes, British and American viewers will be able to watch the gangster musical on Netflix in November.
“Emilia Pérez follows the story of Rita (Saldaña), an overqualified and undervalued lawyer at a large firm that is more interested in getting criminals off the hook than bringing them to justice,” the official plot synopsis reads.
“One day, she is given an unexpected way out, when cartel leader Manitas (Gascón) hires her to help [her] withdraw from [her] business and realise a plan [she] has been secretly preparing for years: to become the woman [she] has always dreamt of being.”
Emilia Pérez has been a smash hit so far at Cannes Film Festival 2024, earning a 10-minute standing ovation at its screening in May, as well as its female ensemble cast – Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz – jointly winning Best Actress.
Karla Sofía Gascón accepted the ensemble cast’s award with a tearful speech, dedicating it to all trans people “who suffer so much and must keep faith that changing is possible”.
Emilia Pérez will hit cinemas in France on 21 August, before coming to select US cinemas in the autumn, and to Netflix UK and US on 13 November.
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