EMILIA PÉREZ

One of this year’s greatest surprises is this trans musical-cum-comedy-cum-thriller-cum-melodrama, in which a Mexican cartel leader hires a lawyer to help him flee the country, secretly retire and change his life – and gender – forever. Used to stepping out of his comfort zone, Jacques Audiard goes further than ever with this irresistible pop opera – or operetta – in Spanish, which won the Cannes Jury Prize and Best Female Performance for its four actresses, led by Spain’s Karla Sofía Gascón. The extravagant plot is transformed through the power of its resounding style into a miracle of a film about identity, desire, violence and redemption, taking every possible creative liberty and tackling a range of issues, starting with the body being subject to changes, and the subject of change.