Film: Emilia Pérez

Essentially, this is the story of 4* women making and adjusting to major changes in their lives.

The largest change by far, is of the gang boss who approaches Rita, an unappreciated lawyer to help him transition into a woman and disappear into the sunset to retire.

That would mean Rita needs to find a plastic surgeon willing to keep everything a secret. Afterwards, his wife becomes a widow and the gang boss reinvents himself as a woman. Still powerful, but in a different way, Emilia uses all of her experiences to summon up the courage to live the life she always wanted a more honest one.

Based in Mexico - although an altogether different Mexico City to the one I visited - we learn about all their hopes and fears as they all strive to live the life they want.

The fourth woman looking to change her life for the better is one that Emilia befriends after transitioning,

Emilia Pérez is genre-defying, part musical, part thriller and mostly crime. I’m not a fan of musicals (unless they are the black-and-white type) or particularly of crime but this film is impossible to ignore. Once you get used to the fact that the characters will break into song at any moment.

7½/10

Netflix