3 Years Later, Zoe Saldaña's 86% Fresh Netflix Drama Is Still Miles Above Her Oscar-Winning Movie (2025)

Zoe Saldaña has quickly emerged as one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. Her movies have earned over $14 billion at the box office, largely thanks to her decision to star in genre movies with massive cultural influence. She starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Avatar (2009), Star Trek (2009), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and the $2.8 billion Avengers: Endgame (2019). By all rights, Saldaña can pick and choose projects for the rest of her career. While she could easily remain involved in those coveted — and expensive — roles, she has instead elected to star in some lesser-known movies.

The Absence of Eden (2023), Amsterdam (2022), and Nina (2016) were all relatively low-key productions that seem out of place in Saldaña's dazzling filmography. She has even starred in TV shows, including Netflix's nine-episode series Maya and the Three and Taylor Sheridan's Lioness. Yet Saldaña's most bizarre role saw her as the star of a musical that has drawn nothing but controversy. Emilia Pérez brought Saldaña renown, though the movie itself disappointed, and it still fails to match up to her best and most underrated drama.

Emilia Pérez Has Been Intensely Criticized

It Still Earned Many Oscar Nominations

That Emilia Pérez courted controversy is no great surprise. The movie, which was released domestically on November 13, 2024, tells the story of the titular Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón). A former cartel head, Pérez seeks to transition into a new life as a woman, while also seeking redemption for her many horrific crimes. Saldaña's Rita Mora Castro often represents Pérez as she works through the logistics of her transition. The film is set in Mexico and is also a musical, with many songs having been written and performed in Spanish. Unfortunately, director and co-writer Jacques Audiard is French and does not speak Spanish, and does not live in Mexico. As a consequence, his depiction of a crime-riddled Mexico does not actually match up to the real-world issues that the country continues to face today.

Aside from cultural criticism, there have also been complaints that Emilia Pérez fails to properly depict gender dysphoria sensitively. The infamous "La Vaginoplastia" song, for instance, sees a group of horrifying doctors, nurses, and patients eerie singing about genital surgery. Rather than actually walking through the effects of the various surgeries, the song depicts them all as bizarre and terrifying. The consequence is that the movie's representation of a real-world group is, therefore, inherently flawed, as common surgeries are portrayed as curiosities.

The movie also fails to provide much in the way of actual representation. The main stars are not Mexican and have little connection to Mexico's unique culture. Unfortunately, the cultural issues were not the only casting problem. Karla Sofía Gascón, who actually is a transgender woman, earned sharp criticism after prejudicial posts were discovered during Pérez's Oscar campaign. In the unearthed online posts, Gascón argued that religions must be banned to ensure that human rights are preserved. She often railed against Islam and Muslims, as well as the impact that religion has on the lives of Muslim women. She also argued that the public never cared about George Floyd, whose death sparked the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and instead sought to use him as a tool for their own agendas. Gascón believes that she is now a victim of "cancel culture", but Saldaña has since apologized for Emilia Pérez's controversies. Yet, despite its many flaws, the movie helped Saldaña achieve an incredible milestone in her career.

Zoe Saldaña Just Won Her First Oscar

She Won Best Actor for Emilia Pérez

Zoe Saldaña played attorney Rita Mora Castro in Emilia Pérez, which made her the subject of a prominent awards campaign. The movie earned 13 Oscar nominations, though it only won two at the 2025 Academy Awards ceremony. One of them belonged solely to Saldaña, as she won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar over renowned competition, including A Complete Unknown's Monica Barbaro, Wicked's Ariana Grande, The Brutalist's Felicity Jones, and Conclave's Isabella Rossellini. It was a remarkable achievement for the 46-year-old actor, who had only been nominated for one other Oscar before Emilia Pérez.

Saldaña played an integral part in ensuring that Emilia Pérez received its second Oscar, as well. Her song, "El Mal", earned the coveted Original Song Oscar, winning over songs from The Six Triple Eight, Sing Sing, and Elton John: Never Too Late. Saldaña is the leading vocalist in "El Mal", and her dance performance proved that she was willing to give her all to the role. It even likely contributed to her Best Actress win. Unfortunately, Saldaña was not fully able to embrace her win, as Emilia Pérez has drawn nothing but disdain from audiences. There is one positive note, however, as Saldaña has already starred in a critically renowned drama.

From Scratch Was Zoe Saldaña's Best Work

It Deserved Its Acclaim

Having debuted in 2022, From Scratch proved to have a legacy that Emilia Pérez could only dream of. Saldaña stars as law school student Amy, alongside Eugenio Mastrandrea's Lino. After leaving law school for her gap year, Amy travels to Italy and meets Lino, a cook who falls in love with her. While the two return to the United States together, Amy is left to care for Lino after he falls ill. The show essentially begins as a typical romance, but it quickly evolves into a deeply emotional tragedy.

In telling that painful story, the show proved to be a critical darling. It earned an 86% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its character-focused storyline, impressive performances, and the sentimentality of its narrative. Audiences agreed, offering a rare duplicate score with the 86% Popcornmeter total. General audiences called for awards, especially for Saldaña, whose tragic performance stood out from the rest of the cast. It was proof that Saldaña is more than just a genre star and that Avatar should not have overlooked Saldaña's Ney’Tiri. Unfortunately, despite drawing so much praise, it did not win many major awards and has not necessarily had much-staying power.

Despite earning so much acclaim, From Scratch was lost amid Netflix's many other romantic comedies. It was the top title on Netflix after its release, logging over 72 million hours of viewership within two weeks. Unfortunately, that influence did not last, as the next week saw it dethroned by Love Is Blind season 3. It never truly recovered, and it remains just another show in Netflix's enormous romantic backlog. If Emilia Pérez proved to be the movie that won Saldaña her Oscar, then it deserves recognition, but From Scratch's tragic narrative needs more acknowledgment as well. Without spoiling its tragic story, the show leaves audiences crying long after binging the final episode. Considering that the show offers Saldaña's best performance, it deserves more attention.

Your Rating

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star

Rate Now

0/10

Your comment has not been saved

Follow

Followed

Emilia Perez

R

Crime

Drama

Comedy

Music

1.0/10

Release Date

November 13, 2024

Runtime

130 Minutes

Director

Jacques Audiard

Cast

See All

• 

  Karla Sofía Gascón

  Emilia / Manitas

• 

  Zoe Saldana

  Rita

• 

Where to watch

Close

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

• 

Writers

Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius

Powered by

Expand Collapse