The crime comedy "Emilia Perez," by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, tells the story of a notorious drug lord who disappears to transition into a woman, and then returns to win back her family.

With its emotional musical numbers, the Netflix production is a Hollywood hit. It has already collected 13 Oscar nominations and won four Golden Globes.

Despite the acclaim, the film has sparked harsh criticism in Mexico.

Even though the plot is set in Mexico, Audiard has produced his drama in a studio near Paris. And with the exception of Adriana Paz, the cast features non-Mexican actors: Spanish trans woman Karla Sofia Gascon in the title role, and US actresses Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez in other leading roles.

"'Emilia Perez' is everything that is bad in a film: stereotypes, ignorance, lack of respect, making money from one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world (mass disappearances in Mexico)," Cecilia Gonzalez, a Mexican journalist living in Argentina, wrote on X.

Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who works in Hollywood, also criticized that everything in "Emilia Perez" seemed "inauthentic" — apart from Adriana Paz.

Paz, who plays the widow of a cartel victim in the film, was present at a press conference in which........

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