Selena Gomez's new film, Emilia Pérez, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, and it was a rousing success.
Variety reports the film earned a nine-minute standing ovation, which was, at that point, the longest of any other film at the festival. According to Variety, Selena cried at the reaction from the crowd.
Emilia Pérez is about a Rita, a lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña, who helps Manitas, a drug cartel leader, played by Karla Sofía Gascón, get gender-affirming surgery to become a woman. Selena plays Manitas' wife, who doesn't know of her husband's plans to transition. The actors sing at various points in the film.
“It was captivating, it was heartbreaking, it was really moving to me,” Selena told Variety of the film, which she saw for the first time at the Cannes screening. "I had a blast and I love the songs. I think they’re really beautiful.”
Selena wrote on Instagram, "Thank you Cannes! I’m so honored to be a small part of something so special in Emilia Pérez." She also thanked director Jacques Audiard "from the bottom of my heart for believing in me," as well as her co-stars: "Every single person a part of this film absolutely blew me away. Love you guys."