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A new musical crime thriller on Netflix starring Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña has left viewers completely baffled, with verdicts ranging from “boring” to “movie of the year.”

Emilia Perez was named the most divisive film of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and was released on Netflix on November 13.

Directed by Jacques Audiard, the film stars Karla Sofía Gascón as the titular character, a Mexican drug cartel leader who undergoes gender confirmation surgery to medically transition.

Perez recruits a gritty lawyer, played by Saldaña, to help her navigate the trial, while her wife, played by Gomez, and children are moved to Switzerland for their safety.

The ambitious film currently scores positively on Rotten Tomatoes, but judging by the reactions on social media, it was extremely alienating.

One particular scene, in which Saldana explains the process of gender reassignment surgery to her through song, has already gone viral and has been viewed more than 4 million times at the time of writing.

The person who uploaded the movie wrote: “THIS IS NOT A REAL MOVIE.” They later added, “I’m 20 minutes into it and this is the second time I’ve had to pause the movie to laugh because oh my god.”

Another detractor called it “the most boring, generic crime drama you can imagine, with the occasional insane musical number thrown in.”

A third person said: “A horribly miscalculated mishmash of creative decisions in poor taste in an attempt to appear ‘important’ and ’empathetic’.”

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In a much more positive take, one viewer said: “The film was such a unique mix of comedy, crime and musical elements working together in the most unexpected ways. The themes of identity and transformation were handled beautifully.”

Another person said that while the movie was still “bats***,” it still “flows with the context of the movie. I liked what it did and the story it told.”

In a review on OutMexican trans film critic Mey Rude said: Emilia Perez is not only one of the best trans films you will ever see, it is one of the most unique and brilliant films of the year.”

At Cannes, Gascón and her co-stars shared the Best Actress award, which she accepted.

It is now widely expected that Gascón will be nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards.

Emilia Perez is now available to watch on Netflix.