Reception in Mexico
Emilia Pérez has been harshly criticized in Mexico and Latin America. The film was the opening night film at the Morelia Film Festival in October 2024, and was released in Mexican theaters on 23 January 2025, grossing 9.4 million pesos in its first weekend. Carlos Aguilar of RogerEbert.com described the overall casting as "another patch in this glamorous pastiche". Prior to its national premiere, Audiard and actress Adriana Paz were to present the film at a special event at the Cineteca Nacional, with the presence of students from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Azcapotzalco, but both cancelled their participation for "logistical reasons".
The absence of Mexican actors in the main roles has been a source of controversy. In this sense, some people understood that the casting director, Carla Hool, suggested in some statements that there was a lack of talent in Mexico as a reason for the main actresses in the film not to be Mexican, but Hool commented as follows: "We did a big search, we were open, and we did a big search in Mexico, and in the US, Spain, in all Latin America [...], but at the end of the day, the best actors who embody these characters are the ones who are right here, right?", defending the performance of the selected actors. On the other hand, actress Adriana Paz, who plays a secondary character, is Mexican. Mexican screenwriter Hector Guillen said it was "really painful" that Hool, who is Mexican, has not found worthy talent in Mexico and Latin America. "The fact that there are a few Mexicans doesn't stop it from being a Eurocentric production," he said.
The lyrics of the song "Papá" performed by Emilia Pérez's son, alluding to the son's olfactory memories ("You smell like my dad, like Diet Coke with ice, lemon and sweat. Mezcal and guacamole") were decried as "simplistic" and "ridiculous" on social media. A parody short film, Johanne Sacreblu, set in France and featuring stereotypical French accents but starring Mexicans and filmed in Mexico, was released by Camila Aurora González, a trans Mexican content creator. The film went viral on social networks, to the extent that Vanity Fair France described it as "revenge" by Mexicans against the film, mentioning that the short film uses all kinds of clichés about the country, such as sailor shirts, mustaches, baguettes, the bad smell of French people and the presence of rats in the streets, as a counterweight to the Mexican stereotypes that she claims the original film presents.
In March 2025, after her Academy Award win, Saldaña stated about the film: "I'm very, very sorry that [...] so many Mexicans felt offended. That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love. [...] For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We were making a film about friendship. We were making a film about four women. These women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza. And these women are still very universal women that are struggling every day, but trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find the most authentic voices. So I will stand by that, but I'm also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters, with love and respect, [to have] a great conversation on how Emilia could have been done better."
Both critics and audiences resented the lack of "sensitivity and context" on the issue of drug trafficking, with some Mexican journalists and influencers calling it "narcomusical". The film was also criticised as an "insensitive caricature" that is an apologism to drug traffickers.
After being questioned about the reception of the film in Mexico, which had not yet been officially released in the country at the time, Mexican actress Adriana Paz, part of the cast of Emilia Pérez, defended her work and recalled that the film is a work of fiction, arguing that "it is an operetta in which people sing and do things that we would not do in reality. All opinions are acceptable, what I find ugly is the violence with which they are expressed".
In January 2025, during her daily morning press conference, Las Mañaneras, the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, defended freedom of expression and rejected censorship. She also emphasized the need for Mexico to be recognized for its history, culture, and traditions, not for negative stereotypes of drug trafficking that she believes the film could reinforce. She noted that tourism continues to grow in Mexico, indicating that the country's image is not damaged, and highlighted the pride of the Mexican people and the importance of promoting their cultural richness. She considered that the French film, by addressing the issues of drug trafficking and disappearances, could be validating prejudices and a distorted European view of Mexico, something that does not align with the country's reality.
.jpg?width=400){kind=small}
