Emilia Pérez, starring award-winning actresses Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Zoe Saldaña, is currently streaming on Netflix and impressively has more Golden Globe nominations than the smash hit movie Wicked. Wicked earned a staggering $333 million at the box office, easily making it one of the year’s biggest movies. In fact, Wicked is the only non-sequel in the top 10 movies of 2024.
Emilia Pérez cannot be a direct point of comparison in that sense, as the movie had a limited theatrical release before becoming available on Netflix on November 13, 2024. Despite that difference and backlash to Emilia Pérez, the movie has clearly garnered significant attention, not only in terms of viewership but also in terms of award nominations. Whereas Wicked received four 2025 Golden Globe nominations, Emilia Pérez has ten.
Multiple stories are woven into Emilia Pérez, although, notably, Emilia Pérez is not based on a true story. The primary story is that of the titular lead, Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón), a trans woman who fakes her death, separating herself from her wife and two children as she undergoes social and medical transition. Prior to her transition, Emilia was high up in the Mexican cartel, a fact which begins to haunt her as she must confront her history of violence in her new life. Ultimately, Emilia begins a nonprofit, helping to find and/or identify victims of the cartel.
Emilia is also eventually reunited with her family, although she pretends to be an estranged cousin so that they do not recognize her. This story is effective, as neither her two children nor her former wife realize who she is, but this has disastrous consequences. Because she does not recognize her, Emilia’s wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), becomes alarmed by Emilia’s behavior, particularly regarding their children, and makes drastic decisions that end in tragedy.
This story is effective, as neither her two children nor her former wife recognize her, but this has disastrous consequences.
In tandem with this story is the story of Zoe Saldaña’s character, Rita, who is a lawyer initially hired by Emilia to help her find surgeons who will provide her with the gender affirming care she is seeking. After Rita does so, the two part ways, but they have a chance encounter years later that throws their lives back together again. In fact, Rita plays a major role in Emilia’s nonprofit before the story takes a much darker turn in the Emilia Pérez ending.
Although the stories behind Wicked and Emilia Pérez are obviously quite different, both are major musicals, and there are a number of similar themes in the two films, particularly pertaining to identity and womanhood. In Wicked, the focus on womanhood is largely explored through female friendships, especially the friendship between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda/Galinda (Ariana Grande). The two women begin as enemies and
In terms of identity in Wicked, Elphaba is also ostracized and demonized, mainly because of her green skin but also because of her powers, which many seem to be afraid of. Wicked sees Elphaba grappling with how she truly feels about herself, in spite of all that has been said about her and what she knows are other people’s perceptions of her. In Emilia Pérez, womanhood and identity are also key.
In Emilia Pérez, womanhood and identity are also key.
It’s apparent from early on in Emilia Pérez that Emilia is experiencing painful gender dysphoria, and (as she indicates herself) has for her whole life, but that she has never felt comfortable expressing who she truly is. It is for this reason that Emilia goes to such great lengths to hide the truth from her family and build a completely new life. There is also a theme of friendships between women in Emilia Pérez, as Rita and Emilia become quite close in the movie, despite their rocky beginnings.
Emilia Pérez has six more Golden Globe nominations than Wicked in 2025, but much of that comes down to the eligible songs and actors each movie has. A major aspect of Wicked’s limited nominations is the fact that Wicked was ineligible to be nominated for Best Original Song because the Wicked soundtrack did not include any original songs. They were all from the original Broadway musical. By contrast, the soundtrack for Emilia Pérez is full of original songs.
Wicked was ineligible to be nominated for Best Original Song.
Emilia Pérez also has more actors who are eligible for nominations. For Wicked, Cynthia Erivo is nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Ariana Grande is nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture. They are the only Wicked actors nominated.
For Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón is nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña are both nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture. Notably, Karla Sofía Gascón is the first openly trans woman to be nominated in this category. Emilia Pérez is also nominated for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and others.
It’s impossible to know for certain who will be walking away with awards this season, as in any season. 2024 was an incredibly competitive year, especially for musicals, it seems, and all the nominees are very deserving. With how celebrated Wicked has been, though, it is a bit challenging to imagine Cynthia Erivo not getting the win for best actress. Similarly, Ariana Grande’s performance as Galinda/Glinda in Wicked has been very celebrated, and it would be a surprise if she didn’t win. Of course, there are other contenders to consider as well.
However, Emilia Pérez was clearly a major hit based on the sheer number of nominations the musical received, which may mean that there could be an upset. Emilia Pérez also has double the chances of having an actress earn the best supporting role award. It remains to be seen who will win out in these various categories, particularly best actress and best supporting actress. Nevertheless, it is notable and impressive that Emilia Pérez has received quite a few more Golden Globe nominations than Wicked.
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