How Is This Even Possible?

Fine, “Emilia Perez” was already hated before Karla Sofia Gascon went all Nazi on us, but this alone cannot explain how the film has a 17% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

On IMDb, it has a terrible 5.6/10 user score. The film earned 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, won two big prizes at Cannes and is sweeping European awards. Yet, you speak to normies out there, folks who have no association to the industry, and ‘Emilia’ is well-liked. Hell, it finished in third place for the TIFF People’s Choice Award. There’s a reason why it was just a nomination shy of all the all-time Oscar record — the film is very well-liked outside of social media circles.

Now, this is not to say that ‘Emilia’ will win any Oscars, at this point I believe there’s a very good chance it’ll win zero statuettes come March 2, but the film is nowhere near as terrible as these user scores indicate. Is it an absurd story? Sure. Does it go way too over the top in its finale? Absolutely. But “Madame Web” it is not.

What I gather’s going on here is that “Emilia Perez” is being review bombed by both the left and the right. The former enraged by its plastic depiction of trans realities, and the former enraged by, well, its depiction of trans realities It’s one of those rare times when an agreed consensus has emerged, from both sides of the aisle, for a film.

With all that said, and with the controversies not subsiding, ‘Emilia’ star Selena Gomez is herself acknowledging that the “magic has disappeared” for her film. However, she has “no regrets” whatsoever about making it, and if given a chance, “would do this movie over and over again, if I could.” Of course she would.

This is what happens when a film is thrust under the microscopic fever of Oscar season. Once you become a contending film, all hands on deck, you’re going to have people trying to destroy your credibility. It’s an absolutely toxic part of awards season. If folks weren’t so glued in on the ‘Emilia’ controversy, then there’d be another film under the microscope; “The Brutalist” ( for its AI controversy), and “Anora” (no intimacy coordinators) must be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I assume many of our readers have seen “Emilia Perez,” and would maybe like to chime in with their own thoughts on the film in the comments section below. Shoot away. Does the film deserve its bad user ratings?