Kiss of the Spider Woman

It’s difficult to even begin to articulate just how deeply I was moved by Bill Condon’s heaven-sent decision to finally bring the subtext of Kiss of the Spider Woman fully into the light. By presenting Molina as a trans woman—someone continually fighting to assert her identity in a world that responds only with violent misrecognition—Condon doesn’t just modernize the narrative; he honors its emotional core in a way that feels both urgent and revelatory.Nowhere is this more powerful than in the reimagined “Only in the Movies” finale. Molina, fully made up, no longer forced into the tuxedo of the original Broadway staging, but radiant in a gown that affirms her truth—only to have the song’s final lines altered to the correct pronoun: "her name was Molina." By that point, I was near-hyperventilating with sobs. It’s not just brilliant adaptation—it’s liberation through art. Every choice Condon makes here feels not only justified, but essential. I’m still reeling from the sheer impact of it **** production, too, is nothing short of sublime. Tobias A. Schliessler’s dual-toned cinematography finds aching beauty in contrast; Brian A. Kates edits with the grace and rhythm of a seasoned dancer; and the costuming by Colleen Atwood and Christine L. Cantella is pure alchemy—two jaw-dropping pieces of which I was thrilled to see up close at the Lincoln Square AMC! Add to that the Technicolor fantasia of Scott Chambliss and Andrew Baseman’s miraculous set design, and you have a world that doesn’t just support the story—it **** performances are equally magnificent. Tonatiuh is a revelation—what a find!—and Diego Luna delivers work of immense sensitivity and gravitas. But at the center of it all is, of course, Jennifer Lopez, giving the supernova performance of her career. It’s nothing short of astonishing to witness her in this triple-threat role, soaring as a singer, dancer, and actress. This is Lopez at the peak of her powers, and it’s a privilege to behold.Endless bravos to the entire team. That they accomplished something this emotionally rich, this visually resplendent, under the constraints of an independent budget and lightning-fast shooting schedule? Simply astonishing. I already can't wait to return and be undone by it all over again.

Diego Luna plays a political prisoner in 80s Argentina who’s joined by a new cellmate, an effeminate homosexual (played by Tonatiuh). As he relates the plot of his favorite movie, they begin to connect. This is the 2nd time that this musical has been brought to the screen. This time Bill Condon is directing and there’s no denying that he knows how to stage gorgeous musicals. When the story transitions into the fantasy, Condon’s creation echoes the Old Hollywood big studio production numbers with beautiful sets, lovely costumes and flashy choreography. Those moments are anchored by a blonde Jennifer Lopez, who’s magnetic in the role. When it’s just the two men in their cell, things are more squalid, but their relationship holds sway. Both actors do a fine job. The balance between the worlds loses some of emotional momentum when it bounces back and forth, but the duo’s final scenes are the film’s most affecting.

‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ is an adaptation of the 1992 musical, which was itself based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Manuel Puig, first adapted for the screen in 1985. The description sounds like a spiderweb, but it's important to understand the frame surrounding this film. With so many treatments and ideas over the years, the **** and political story about two men bonding in an Argentinian jail during the Dictatorship now displays a clear confusion on screen regarding what it wants to tell and how it wants to present it. While it's not a resounding and tone deaf disaster like ‘Emilia Pérez’ is, this film, which so loudly proclaims the magic of cinema and its healing nature, falls far short of what could be defined as a cinematic and emotional odyssey (for a masterful example of this, watch the Austrian prison drama ‘Great Freedom’).

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" is messy and muddled in its presentation and messaging despite its lavish production numbers and solid performances. Director Bill Condon’s off-putting movie is a visual and narrative mess: polished where it should be gritty and ugly where it must be glamorous is very bland, almost always. Condon usually have a good visual eye whenever he has a good script but depending on the material his film goes off into uninteresting territory that suffers its characters. During the Argentinian revolution, a political prisoner shares a cell with a man convicted of public indecency. To spend the time, the man recounts the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. Valentin is a political prisoner, unjustly incarcerated by a regime desperate for information about his revolutionary comrades. As part of their interrogation strategy, the authorities assign him a cellmate: Molina, who has been instructed to coax these secrets from him. To break down Valentin’s defenses, Molina begins to share the story of his favorite film. What begins as mere manipulation soon evolves into something deeper, as Molina and Valentin form an unexpected bond. The question lingers: will the government ultimately get what it wants? Written and directed by Bill Condon (writer of Chicago, and director musicals Dreamgirls and Beauty and the Beast), this reimagining of Kiss of the Spider Woman revisits the 1985 film adaptation of Terrence McNally’s stage play, itself drawn from Manuel Puig’s celebrated novel. This new version stars Diego Luna as Valentin, Tonatiuh as Molina, Bruno Bichir, and Jennifer Lopez as the luminous anchor of the film’s dream sequences. For Molina, storytelling becomes a form of survival, a way to escape the suffocating confines of prison life, while also transporting Valentin, if only briefly, to another world. Condon seizes on this opportunity to bring the audience into that parallel reality, where Jennifer Lopez dazzles as Ingrid Luna, a glamorous movie star drifting through Hollywood in search of genuine love. Lopez captivates through song, dance, and elegantly crafted costumes, her sparkling presence embodying a fantasy that starkly contrasts with the bleak isolation of the prison. Condon saturates Ingrid’s world with lush colors and beauty, allowing the juxtaposition of fantasy and reality to try to resonate powerfully. There are certain films and novels that aren't meant to be adapted into musicals because of sensitive, fragile, or serious subject matter, The Color Purple is another example of this which has a rough history as a Broadway musical that deals with racism, sexual abuse and lesbianism and Kiss of the Spider Woman deals with Brazilian rebellion, homosexuality and corrupt prison system so when turning that material into a musical it can be profound and moving or atrocious and like The Color Purple musical film from a couple years ago this unfortunately falls into the latter category. At its core, Kiss of the Spider Woman is a story that moves between two realms, gritty confinement and shimmering fantasy, yet its heart beats around a single theme: love. In the shared recognition of their mutual humanity, Molina and Valentin transcend their circumstances, learning to care for one another in the unlikeliest of places. This message feels urgent and universal, a reminder of empathy’s necessity in our own fractured times when the execution is very uneven. Yet, despite these compelling thematic layers, Condon’s direction sometimes really falters. While his dreamscapes are vibrant and intoxicating, he lingers too heavily on the grim aspects of the prison world. Darkness and filth permeate the cell, as they must, but certain scenes drive this reality home with such blunt force that they feel overcalculated. What is missing is a sense of subtlety, a gentler hand that might have allowed the intimacy of Valentin and Molina’s connection to shine through without distraction like the original film had which captured the novel's spirit. Instead, moments here meant to evoke empathy and fragility occasionally collapse under the weight of their own severity, leaving the audience more wearied and confused than moved. The reason why original 1985 film works is mostly because the Sonia Braga character the star of the fictional movie isn't interacting with Molina or Valentin in the movie fantasy sequences and the fictional movie isn't drawing too much attention to itself to where it isn't a boring distraction here you're just waiting for these musical numbers to be over and get back to the prison setting for the dynamic between the two of them. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is an ambitious work that lingers in its shadows and never fully embraces its glamour. Its idealistic symbolism feels squandered and lost in translation, perhaps never escaping at all.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]