The Netflix movie Emilia Peréz is winning big at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday night, including a Best Supporting Actress win for star Zoe Saldaña and a Best Picture win in the Non-English Language category, so far. And with ten total nominations—which is more than any other comedy/musical film has received in Golden Globes history—there are surely more Emilia Peréz wins to come.
If this is the first time you’re hearing of this movie, you no doubt have some questions. Written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez is an audacious, Spanish-language musical about a Mexican lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), who agrees to help a notorious drug cartel leader, named Manitas, secretly transition to a new life as a woman, named Emilia.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Emilia Peréz movie that’s been dominating the 2025 Golden Globes so far.
Where to watch Emilia Peréz:
You can stream Emilia Peréz on Netflix, free to anyone with a Netflix subscription.
Who is in the Emilia Peréz cast:
Zoe Saldaña stars as a Mexican lawyer named Rita, Karla Sofía Gascón stars as the former drug cartel leader named Emilia, and Selena Gomez stars as Emilia’s former wife, Jessi. Other cast members include Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir, and Édgar Ramírez.
Who is Karla Sofía Gascón from Emilia Pereéz?
Gascón, a Spanish actress who publicly transitioned in 2018, plays both Manitas and Emilia. In the movie, she plays both a notorious, male drug cartel leader named Manitas, and she plays the woman that Manitas becomes, named Emilia.
Before she was cast in Emilia Pérez, and before she transitioned, Gascón appeared in the 2013 Telemundo crime drama El Señor de los Cielos and the 2013 Mexican film The Noble Family. But Emilia Peréz is undoubtedly her breakthrough role for American audiences. She is the first openly trans actress ever nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
What is Emilia Peréz about?
Emilia Pérez is a Spanish-language “musical crime comedy” about a Mexican lawyer, Rita (Saldaña), who agrees to help a notorious drug cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) secretly transition to a new life as a woman. Rita moves the cartel leader’s wife, Jessi (Gomez), and their two children to a remote home in Switzerland. She tells Jessi that her husband has found himself in deep trouble, and that this is the only way to keep them safe.
Four years later, the former cartel leader has embraced her new life as a woman named Emilia Pérez. But Emilia misses her children. She seeks out Rita to help her once more—this time not to disappear from her family’s life, but to re-enter it. Rita introduces Emilia to her former wife and kids as a long-lost aunt, and, at Emilia’s insistence, gets sucked into Emilia’s chaotic orbit.
You can check out the full list of Golden Globe nominees here and be sure to follow along with Decider’s coverage of the event. Tune in to watch live on CBS or stream on Paramount+.
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