Emilia Pérez Ending Explained

Emilia Pérez, the title character and mother of her children, is at the end of her road in the conclusion of Netflix's crime comedy musical. The genre-bending movie, which was directed by French director Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, The Sisters Brothers), features inventive dance and musical numbers along with an intense narrative about regret and unmet desire. The film, which is France's official submission for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 2, 2025, is a loose adaptation of Boris Razon's 2018 novel Écoute.

Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Zoe Saldaña led Emilia Pérez's cast with their combined skills. It had its world premiere in May at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Emilia Pérez took home the Best Actress Ensemble prize and the Jury Prize. One of the film's key highlights and the central theme of the ultimately tragic story is Emilia Pérez's soundtrack. While Emilia Pérez is set in multiple locations, the majority of the film was filmed in Paris, France. Emilia's need for control and her inability to keep her happiness from her family ultimately led to her downfall, despite the fact that she had grown significantly in her new life.

The Reasons Behind Emilia Pérez's Death: Emilia, Jessi, and Gustavo

Since Jessi's lifestyle depended on having access to the enormous sum of money that Mantias had left for her and their kids, Emilia learned the hard way not to interfere with her. Emilia's invitation to Jessi and their children to live in her mansion in Mexico was accompanied by designer handcuffs, which Jessi knew were a catch, as she bitterly sings in the song "Bienvenida."

Jessi manages to hide her rage at Emilia's financial dominance until she discloses that she intends to wed Gustavo and move out with him and the children, which infuriates Emilia to the point where she almost blows her cover. Although Gustavo doesn't play a significant role in Emila Pérez, he is the one who will deny Emilia direct access to her kids. Gustavo threatens Jessi on the bed, so Emilia sends her bodyguard to beat him up. As a result, the two develop a bitter rivalry, and Jessi leaves with the children whenever she gets the chance.

Jessi even permits Gustavo's friends to amputate Emilia's three fingers. Jessi is shocked and regretful as soon as Emilia tells her who she really is. While Emilia is locked in the trunk, she takes one last stand to keep her safe. Unfortunately, Gustavo is forced to drive off a cliff due to Jessi's reckless aggression, and all three of them perish in the burning car.

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Emilia's Inability to Live Without Her Children

While living in Mexico with Jessi and their kids, Emilia had the best of both worlds. She is incredibly conflicted about only being able to be half of who she really is, with Mantias practically hidden in plain sight, as she sings in the song "El Amor." Being able to see her children every day was the next best thing, even though Emilia had to endure hiding her paternal love for them.

Emilia was totally taken aback when Jessi announced that she was moving the kids to live with Gustavo; it's unclear how long she thought this dynamic would last. Emilia apparently thought the children would spend their childhoods living with her.

What Takes Place With Rita and Emilia's Children?

In the song "TodoNada" at the start of the movie, Rita says she wishes she had more time to find a father and have children, but she doesn't think she has any time. The passing of Emilia and Jessi gives Rita the chance to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. It's clear that Emilia and Jessi's children will be in good hands with Rita, even though she was clearly not cheering for this outcome. They might return to Switzerland, where the children enjoy skiing, or they might stay in Emilia's mansion in Mexico. Rita could also take them to London, where she helped Manitas and went on to start a new life. However, they will probably remain in their current location due to their Mexican ancestry.

Why Emilia Was Slow to Tell Jessi the Truth

Since her transition, Emilia had developed significantly as a person, especially as a constructive community member seeking to make amends for her past transgressions. That she never thought to approach Jessi with an open mind and ask for her sympathy regarding her transition is disheartening. That probably would have been a better way to keep access to her kids rather than turning Jessi into an arch-enemy and attempting to use force to control the situation.

Tragically, it demonstrates a complete reversal of Emilia's moral growth, almost wiping out all of the progress she made in self-healing and self-forgiveness for her violent and criminal life. Emilia's pride ultimately smothered all of her progress.

Explained: Emilia's Legacy and Effect on Her Community

However, Emilia is seen as a model member of the community. Following her passing, a lot of people sang in the streets in her honor, praising her as a saint for her work with La Lucecita, her foundation for missing persons. The community's celebration and mourning of Emilia's life is extremely ironic given that they only truly understand half of the story. Many of those missing people were first caused by Manitas, a feared and dangerous kingpin.

It is somewhat surprising that Emilia never made an effort to permanently silence Rita after reestablishing contact with her in London, as only Rita was aware of that. It could be argued that Emilia deserved praise for the contributions she made to her community and to herself in her later years. But if those people had known the truth, they probably wouldn't have been worshiping her legacy with such fervor.

The True Significance Of Emilia Pérez's Demise

The conclusion of Emilia Pérez forces the audience to weigh Emilia's moral worth against Manitas's transgressions. It raises issues like "Was Emilia redeemed?" along with "Does she deserve such an emotional, passionate sendoff?" . Making a difference in the community is one thing, but given the life of crime and violence it attempts to conceal, it is quite another. Since Emilia wanted to rid herself of her previous life, there was a feeling that La Lucecita was more self-fulfilling than charitable even when she first began it. True community leaders didn't need to put their criminal past behind them in order to make a difference in society, so comparing Emilia to a saint would be offensive.

Emilia Pérez's influence on her community serves as a metaphor for the impact that she is subtly having as a trans woman. Rita tells Dr. Wasserman in the song "Lady" that "changing the soul changes society," and Emilia did just that with regard to the missing persons issue.

Since she had to hide her identity as the criminal Manitas and "disgrace" her family name, Emilia does not support her most pressing cause, trans equality, and instead keeps quiet about her transition and true identity. She chose to become the face of a different cause in order to honor her truest community in Emilia Pérez without publicly promoting trans rights and equality because doing so would expose her.

How People Reacted to Emilia Pérez's ending

Both audiences and critics have had a variety of reactions to Emilia Pérez's ending. The musical crime drama directed by Jacques Audiard culminates in a dramatic crescendo that has received praise and criticism for its narrative decisions.

The Emilia Pérez ending's supporters commend its audacious and creative approach, particularly on an emotional and thematic level. The ending, for instance, is characterized by Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine as "fierce and glorious, a radical act of the imagination with kindness in its heart," emphasizing the film's sympathetic narrative. She also highlights how the conclusion alludes to a number of the story's most significant lessons:

It is difficult to locate the beginning that follows the conclusion in Audiard's film. It's about human possibility, not transgender possibility. since they are interchangeable.

In contrast, the Emilia Pérez ending has drawn criticism from some critics. The New Yorker's Richard Brody says the movie "presents twists and turns that exhaust themselves in the strain to stoke excitement; the movie is a wild ride to nowhere." Brody's opinions are in line with those of several critics who believe Emilia Perez's ending falls short of being a satisfying story, despite being lively and emotionally moving. But not all evaluations of Emilia Perez are entirely favorable or unfavorable. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, for instance, presents a more balanced perspective, pointing out that although the conclusion is unusual, not all viewers will find it compelling.

Emilia Pérez has gained a great deal of recognition in the film industry, despite the ending's conflicting reviews. Emilia Perez received a record 13 nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, for instance, including Best Picture, Best Director for Jacques Audiard, and Best Actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, who became the first openly trans woman to be nominated in this category. Zoe Saldaña was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as well. Out of ten nominations, the movie took home four Golden Globes, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy.

In summary, opinions on Emilia Pérez's ending have been mixed, with some praising its creative and emotional resolution and others criticizing it for its pacing and narrative. Notwithstanding these divergent viewpoints, the film's critical and award success highlight its cultural significance and the thought-provoking nature of its narrative decisions.