Selena Gomez Triumphs in Cannes with Emilia Pérez

This fall, Emilia Pérez: the movie, all but promises watching audiences around the world will not forget anytime soon. Immediately after its release at the Cannes Film Festival, multiple people reportedly stood up to applaud the movie, and then the movie promptly won the Jury Prize. However, in a feat nothing short of Herculean, not only did the movie win the Jury Prize; it also single-handedly won the Best Actress award [from the Cannes jury] for the women who make the movie. But of course, the film inspired all these not-terribly-secret ambitions. The movie might be a bit ‘Try-Hard’ in premise, but then all the best movies usually are.

From a business perspective, the film must feel like a godsend. Nobody had heard of the movie till a few months ago, and now, all the streaming services and production firms want it. Interestingly, so too did the women of the movie, reportedly requesting forty million to split between and among themselves. Ten black DJs died in Chicago before they found Netflix’s asking price. Although it is worth noting Netflix reportedly wanted it more badly than anyone else; they wanted it so badly they bought it for an attentions-attracting eight million dollars.

The audience instantly recognizes they are witnessing history unfolding before their eyes– and having learned how rare but satisfying ‘feeling history unfold before oneself’ is, no audience member is liable to complain the film’s too predictable. Smitten audiences are not only slathering over the movie as seen on the big screen; they have also given it an 88% spicy rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a “bracingly original and audaciously entertaining musical epic” that boasts all the performance chops to back that feat up. The movie’s audacity and ambition shows from- and en-lightens every frame, and newcomer Gascón delivers such a transformative performance, hers feels like an honorably inevitable Oscar win. Overall, Emilia Pérez: the movie rewrites the rules of modern cinema, and all actors and movies from now on will benefit or lose from the world’s unlikely ability and willingness to rewatch movies.