‘Emilia Pérez’ Wins Four Golden Globes Topped By Best Picture – Musical Or Comedy As Star Sofía Gascón Says “The Light Always Wins Over Darkness”

Emilia Pérez, the bold and brazen Spanish-language movie musical crime drama that is France’s entry in this year’s Oscar race, won the Best Picture – Musical or Drama category Sunday at the Golden Globes, giving it a leading four wins and a sure spot in the conversation for the Best Picture Oscar.

The pic written and directed by Frenchman Jacques Audiard won Best Non English-Language Motion Picture and Best Original Song after beginning the night with Zoe Saldaña taking Best Supporting Female Actor in a Motion Picture. The Netflix film came in with a leading 10 nominations overall.

Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the fearsome cartel leader Emilia at the heart of the film and is the first openly trans woman to ever be nominated for a Globe, stepped to the mic after the film was announced the night’s final winner, topping a diverse category that included another movie musical, Wicked, along with Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora, Challengers, A Real Pain and The Substance.

“I have a lot of things to say,” she began, saying she wore colors resembling a Buddhist robe because “the light always wins over darkness.”

The Spaniard then chose her words carefully in English as she addressed the crowd with her cast behind her. “Maybe you can put us in jail. You can beat us up. But you never can take away our soul, our resistance, our identity,” she said. “And I want to say, I won. I am who I am, not who you want me to be.”

In the film, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Emilia enlists Rita (Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez also star in the film; Gascon, Saldana, Gomez and Paz teamed to win the Best Actress prize at Cannes.

Emilia Pérez has been a smash on the awards circuit to date, landing 10 Critics Choice Awards nominations, named Best Picture at the European Film Awards and is an AFI Awards Top 10 Film.

Netflix distributed the movies in select theaters and it launched on the streamer November 13.