Film Review – Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)

      Kiss of the Spider Woman, 2025.

      Written and Directed by Bill Condon.

      Featuring Tonatiuh, Diego Luna, Jennifer Lopez, Josefina Scaglione, Bruno Bichir, Aline Mayagoitia, Kevin Michael Brennan, Thomas Canestraro, Eduardo Ramos, David Turner, and Odain Watson.

      SYNOPSIS:

      Valentín, a political inmate, shares a prison cell with Molina, who is imprisoned for public indecency. As Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring Ingrid Luna, an unexpected bond forms between them.

      In Bill Condon's adaptation of the novel and stage musical Kiss of the Spider Woman (by Terrence McNally and Manuel Puig, respectively, with lyrics and music by Sam Davis and John Kander), there is an awkward blend of reality and fantasy that doesn't quite harmonize as intended by the filmmaker.

      For those unfamiliar with the basic storyline, set in 1980s Argentina under military rule, Luis Molina (Tonatiuh) is incarcerated on charges of public indecency and suspected homosexuality. However, he is not a revolutionary; that role belongs to his cellmate Valentín Arregui (Diego Luna), from whom the prison guards desperately seek useful information. Consequently, Luis is assigned to gain Valentín’s trust, hoping he might disclose details about his contacts or plans in exchange for a lighter sentence.

      Luis is also captivated by films, especially musicals, and has fantasies of being a woman. This leads him to narrate his favorite musical, presented as a movie-within-a-movie, featuring Jennifer Lopez’s Ingrid as the beautiful, enigmatic, and doomed Aurora. Luis believes beauty equates to power and yearns to be her, but he can only rewrite himself as her devoted assistant, observing her guarded love life without being a part of it, quietly supporting her from the sidelines.

      The intent seems to be to spark a dialogue between Luis and Valentín regarding the value of artistic escape and expression amidst a grim reality, where Valentín argues that unless one is involved in a revolutionary movement, pursuits like films and celebrity obsession are largely unproductive. As Diego Luna also portrays a character in the fictional musical—Aurora's lover, Armando—the narrative of that story begins to reflect reality and elements of Luis’s psyche. The musical introduces a villain, the eponymous Spider Woman (visually captivating due to her striking costume), also played by Jennifer Lopez, who demands a sacrifice from anyone who loves Aurora.

      The experience is heavily plot-driven (and seemingly indifferent to actual Argentinian history, using it as a clumsy backdrop for a tale of secrets and identity exploration), with Kiss of the Spider Woman truly coming alive only when Luis and Valentín are in their cells, engaging in discussions about their worldviews and forming a unique bond. Despite the glamorous costumes, Technicolor visuals, and large dance numbers, the movie-within-a-movie primarily distracts, ultimately lacking the emotional resonance found in their real-world exchanges. It feels more like an interruption, with connections and symbols that clarify the characters’ identities, leaving viewers feeling drained and eager to express that they understand the themes being presented.

      Performance-wise, there is a consistent strength whether in Tonatiuh’s vibrant expressiveness, revealing the evolving complexities of Luis throughout the film, or in Diego Luna’s more serious portrayal as he unexpectedly becomes more involved in the story than anticipated, or in Jennifer Lopez, who effectively showcases her popstar credentials while delivering catchy songs (some upbeat, others cold and threatening).

      However, Kiss of the Spider Woman strives to encompass so much that by the end, the characters' personal arcs, the historical context, and the two distinct filmmaking styles fail to cohere into a cohesive narrative that fully utilizes those elements. There are moments of excitement and emotional depth, but also an unsettling sense of detachment, with the movie-within-a-movie aspect serving as a barrier to the overall story.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

      Robert Kojder