Rita, an underrated lawyer working for a large law firm more interested in getting criminals out of jail than bringing them to justice, is hired by the leader of a criminal organization.
Karla Sofía Gascón
Emilia / Manitas
Zoe Saldaña
Rita
Selena Gomez
Jessi
Adriana Paz
Epifania
Edgar Ramírez
Gustavo Brun
Mark Ivanir
Wasserman
Eduardo Aladro
Berlinger
Emiliano Hasan
Gabriel Mendoza
Gaël Murgia-Fur
Angel
Tirso Pietriga
Diego
Xiomara Ahumada Quito
Woman in Black
Magali Brito
La Ponchis
Jarib dit Javier Zagoya Montiel
Chaplain
Sébastien Fruit
El Flaco
Alejandra Reyes
Rosa / Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Anabel Lopez
Berlinger's Secretary
Daniel Velasco-Acosta
Emilia's Driver
James Gerard
Simon
Braulio Gómez Bernal
TV Anchor
Stéphane Ly-Cuong
Male Surgeon
Tulika Srivastava
Female Surgeon
Johanna Rebolledo Marin
Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Alejandra Díaz Ambrosi
Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Karla Lazo
Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Gabriela Ceceña
Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Lucile Chriqui
Courtroom Cleaning Lady
Sarah Gfeller
Widow
Luis Gabriel Gonzalez
Repented Sicario
Loïc Percheron Lazo
Soloist Child
Rosario Zamora
Chepultepec Cafe Owner
Nathalia Saucedo
Emilia's Maid
Monica Ortiz
Emilia's Maid
Marysol Cordourier
Emilia's Maid
Alonso Venegas-Flores
Reporter
Ana Laura Fortuit
Journalist
Jonas Paz-Benavides
Journalist
Tiphanie Ham
Journalist
Benjamin Díaz Espinoza
Kid on Bike
Holly-Rose Clegg
London Dinner Guest
Kalvin Winson
London Dinner Guest
Lou Justine Moua Nédellec
London Dinner Guest
Michaël Charny
London Dinner Guest
Mohammed Ali Ismail
London Dinner Guest
Katie Valentine
London Dinner Guest
Zelda Rittner
London Dinner Guest
Eric Geynes
London Dinner Guest
Silvia Herraiz
Fundraising Speaker
Ángel Romero
Mariachi
Eduardo Lubo
Mariachi
Manuel Sol Mateo
Mariachi
Théo Guarin
Angel as a Child
Lucas Varoclier
Diego as a Child
Agathe Bokja
Thai Medical Staff (uncredited)
Chun-Ting Lin
Thai Medical Staff (uncredited)
Line Phé
Thai Medical Staff (uncredited)
Shuuko Calderón
Woman at the Club (uncredited)
Paul Kai Te
Sicario (uncredited)
Director, Screenplay
Jacques Audiard
Novel
Boris Razon
Screenplay
Thomas Bidegain
Screenplay
Léa Mysius
Screenplay
Nicolas Livecchi
October 16, 2024
7
"Rita" (Zoe Saldana) is a lawyer in Mexico who finds her professionalism attracting the attention of the powerful drug lord "Manitas". He spends his time heavily guarded and constantly on the move as he pretty much controls the synthetic drug trade in and out of his country. What does he want with "Rita" though? Well tempted by a great deal of money, she makes the perilous trip to meet him and find out. Suffice to say she gets quite a shock when she discovers that he is determined to become a woman. "Rita" is now charged with the ultra-discrete task of finding a surgeon who can turn "Manitas" into "Emilia". Not only is this highly dangerous for the lawyer, but it's also no walk in the park for the gangster or his family who will need to be relocated and convinced that dad is no more. What now ensues tests the mettle of both characters, especially as the erstwhile father struggles rather more than he'd anticipated when it comes to losing his wife "Jessi" (Selena Gomez) and his two young children. Can he stay out of their lives for ever or might he succumb to that temptation and set the cat amongst the familial pigeons? The story is a bit too episodic and the characterisations superficial at times, which is a shame. That said, though, there is still a strong and emotionally powerful effort from Karla Sofía Gascón as the ruthlessly violent killer who undergoes more than a physical transformation over the four or five year period this drama covers. Saldana also holds this together well delivering an engaging performance as a character who has perhaps lost faith in what the system can do to make things better for ordinary people, so adopts a more "inside the tent of the enemy" approach. It's peppered with musical numbers. Some of those work better than others at introducing delicacy, love, lust and anger into the proceedings but let's be under no illusions that there are any great singers here. I found the denouement a bit rushed and frankly rather weak, but the whole film does shine rather a provocative light on attitudes to gender identification and just as importantly to corruption and the relatively minimal value placed on human life in country where someone almost always works for someone else. It's just a little over two hours, but once it gets into gear it doesn't hang around making for a decent watch tackling important topics that's worth a gander.