Emilia Pérez (2024) review

Mexican counselor Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña) helps defend a man - despite her doubts about his innocence - for the killing of his spouse and then is abducted by feared cartel leader Juan "Manitas" Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) who asks her (a.) to help him fake his death, (b.) take his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and two children to safety in Switzerland, and (c.) assist him in undergoing gender confirmation surgery - four years later they reunite, with Manitas living under her true identity as Emilia Pérez, and this time Pérez wants to start an organization that provides assistance to families missing loved ones.  While I like how Audiard's typically "masculine" approach is subverted by the musical nature of the project and its all-female cast (who collectively won the Best Actress award at Cannes) it remains a peculiar, and not altogether "satisfying" feature: it's lacking in dramatic tension, strains plausibility (how does Jessi not recognize her ex-husband when even their kids suspect something is different?) and the abundant songs are there to disguise/distract from its thinness (also see: this year's Joker sequel).  It's not my place to say this, but I'm not sure it has anything meaningful to offer regarding transgender individuals and their inner worlds ... but, for a guy in his seventies, Audiard at least takes them seriously.