However, he highlights that Emilia Perez is "not a Mexican film" and notes "Mexican audiences have grown accustomed to American perspectives exploiting narco-related afflictions for narratives unconcerned with addressing its root causes".
On review site Rotten Tomatoes, Emilia Perez gets a 72% from critics, but just 17% from audiences; again, the rest of its Oscars competitors range from Wicked's 88% critics' score to I'm Still Here's 96%, or Nickel Boy's 65% audience score to I'm Still Here's 99%.
Carlos Aguilar, a film critic originally from Mexico City who writes for the Roger Ebert film website, was generally positive in his review, giving the film three out of four stars.
US LGBTQ+ advocacy and cultural change group GLAAD has described Emilia Perez as a "step backward for trans representation", and highlighted reviews by transgender critics who "understand how inauthentic portrayals of trans people are offensive and even dangerous".
First there was a slew of gongs at the Golden Globes, including best comedy or musical film, and then came the Oscar nominations - it leads the race with 13 nods, and broke the record to become the most nominated non-English language film in the history of the awards.
