The 2024 awards season has been dominated by a singular, perplexing phenomenon: the meteoric rise of the film Emilia Perez. Nominated for a staggering thirteen Oscars, tying it with cinematic giants like Oppenheimer, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Forrest Gump, and becoming the most-nominated foreign film in Oscar history, Emilia Perez has confounded critics and audiences alike. Its critical reception has been mixed, reflected in a respectable but not outstanding 76% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, its audience score languishes at a dismal 28%, the lowest among the Best Picture nominees and a stark outlier in recent Oscar history. This chasm between critical acclaim and audience antipathy has ignited a firestorm of debate, transforming Emilia Perez into a meme and a symbol of the perceived disconnect between industry accolades and popular taste.
The controversy surrounding Emilia Perez centers on its potential to become a historical anomaly. If it were to win Best Picture, it would boast the lowest audience score of any winner in the past two decades, rivaling only the contentious victories of Crash (73% critic score) and Green Book (77% critic score). These two films, both marred by accusations of simplistic portrayals of complex social issues, stand as cautionary tales of awarding the industry’s highest honor to films that fail to resonate with a broader audience. Emilia Perez‘s potential win poses a similar dilemma, raising questions about the criteria used by awards voters and the increasing divergence between critical consensus and public opinion.
A closer examination of the Best Picture nominees over the past twenty years reveals a clear trend: the vast majority of winners enjoy critical acclaim exceeding 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. This pattern underscores the importance of critical reception in predicting Oscar success and highlights the unusual position of Emilia Perez. Its 76% critic score, while respectable, pales in comparison to the near-universal praise showered upon recent winners like Everything Everywhere All at Once, CODA, and Parasite. This discrepancy begs the question: what qualities does Emilia Perez possess that resonate with award voters despite its lukewarm reception from critics and outright rejection by many viewers?
The other Best Picture nominees for 2024 present a stark contrast to Emilia Perez‘s divisive reception. Films like I’m Still Here, Anora, Conclave, and The Brutalist all boast critical scores above 90%, suggesting a stronger likelihood of resonating with Academy voters. Dune Part 2, with its 92% critic score and 95% audience score, represents a more traditional Oscar contender, enjoying both critical and popular acclaim. Even The Substance, while having a lower critic score of 89%, benefits from significant buzz generated by Demi Moore’s Golden Globe win. In this context, Emilia Perez‘s numerous nominations, including a Golden Globe win for Best Musical or Comedy, appear even more anomalous.
The stark disparity between Emilia Perez‘s critical and audience scores invites speculation about the factors driving its awards success. Some have suggested that its unique narrative structure or stylistic choices, while potentially alienating some viewers, might appeal to the more avant-garde sensibilities of award voters. Others point to the film’s subject matter or cultural context as potential reasons for its resonance within the industry. Regardless of the specific reasons, Emilia Perez‘s awards trajectory raises broader questions about the evolving relationship between critical acclaim, popular taste, and the criteria used to evaluate artistic merit.
Ultimately, the Emilia Perez debate underscores a fundamental tension within the film industry: the desire to celebrate artistic achievement while also acknowledging the importance of audience engagement. While critical acclaim often serves as a useful indicator of quality, it does not always guarantee popular appeal. Conversely, box office success does not necessarily equate to artistic merit. The case of Emilia Perez presents a unique challenge, forcing a reckoning with the question of what constitutes a "good" film and who gets to decide. Its potential Best Picture win would undoubtedly be a historical anomaly, prompting further reflection on the role of awards in shaping cinematic discourse and the complex interplay between critics, audiences, and the industry itself.
