10 Simple Fixes That Would've Saved Terrible Recent Movies

Emilia Perez, a musical about a former Mexican cartel boss who transitions into a woman (Karla Sofia Gascon), is one of the most vehemently hated awards season movies of the century... and there is a very good reason for that. It has offended so many people, and the backlash has been largely justified. 

It's a film set in Mexico that only features one Mexican actor, was shot in France, and has been panned in Mexico due to its failure to treat the country with respect. It depicts Mexico as a crime-ridden hell hole in a wildly retrograde manner, and its exploration of Mexico's issue with crime and missing persons is also dreadful. Discussing this tragic issue through a glitzy musical is bad enough, and to make matters worse, the titular character never faces any sort of comeuppance for their countless murders. 

As if all of that wasn't enough, LGBT viewers have also (again, deservedly) criticized the film for its depiction of the trans experience. How could all of this have been avoided? Writer-director Jacques Audiard needed to do his damn homework. 

Audiard openly admitted to having done little to no research before writing the film, and it definitely shows. Had he taken the time to engage with these subjects respectfully and authentically, then Emilia Perez would've been so much better. There were some good elements here, such as the directing and some of the performances, so it wasn't a movie beyond saving.