WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Emilia Pérez.
Netflix crime comedy musical Emilia Pérez It takes place in many countries, but was filmed in only one. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, The Sisters Brothers), the genre-bending film offers innovative musical numbers and choreography infused with a harrowing story about unfulfilled desires and regrets. Emilia Pérez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble Award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festivalwhere it had its world premiere in May. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel Écoute by Boris Razon.
Emilia Pérez is France’s entry for Best International Film at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 82% and an audience score of 79%. Emilia Pérez mostly favorable reviews made it an early contender for the Best Picture award and also generated Oscar for Best Actress for Gascón and Best Supporting Actress for Saldaña. The story follows Saldaña’s Rita Moro Castro, a defense lawyer in Mexico City looking to make a difference, who finds an unusual but lucrative opportunity from cartel boss Manitas Del Monte, as he aims to fulfill his lifelong dream of become a woman.
All places visited in Emilia Pérez
The film travels to Thailand, Israel, Switzerland and England
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Mexico City, Mexico
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Bangkok, Thailand
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Tel Aviv, Israel
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Lausanne, Switzerland
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London, England
Although there are some settings in Emilia Pérezmost of the film takes place in Mexico City, Mexico. This is where all three main characters come from and where most of the plot unfolds before and after the transition from Manitas Del Monte to Emila Pérez. Rita de Saldaña flies to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with a surgeon and learn about the various surgeries required to change sex. Rita then flies to Tel Aviv, Israel to meet with Dr.who ends up carrying out the procedures.
After helping Manitas achieve his life’s desire, Rita leaves Mexico City and lives a luxurious life as a socialist in London, England. This is where she meets Emila Pérez in the flesh for the first time, years after her transition. Emilia asks Rita for help in returning to Mexico City so she can live with her two children and Jessi, his ex-wife, posing as Manitas’ long-lost cousin. Rita helped orchestrate his move to Lausanne, Switzerlanda peaceful lakeside community. She visits there to bring them back to Mexico City to be with Emilia.
Emilia Perez was shot in France – was anything done at the scene?
Most, if not all of the film, was filmed in Paris, France
Despite all the traveling locations that appear in Emila Pérezmost of the film was filmed in studios in Paris, France. None of the scenes were filmed on location in the aforementioned countries. However, Diego Fernando Diosa, who worked Narcosis credited as “Locations Scout: Mexico” in Emilia Pérezindicating that some scenes could have been filmed on location in Mexico. The choreographed street scenes at the beginning of the film could have potentially been filmed in Mexico, or at least some of the scenes establishing the landscape.