Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)

Loosely based on the Oscar-winning 1985 drama of the same name and DIRECTLY based on the Tony-winning '90's musical of the same name, this prison drama/musical tells the story of a drifter named Molina (Tonatiuh) and a political prisoner named Valentin (Diego Luna) who share a cell in an Argentinian prison in the midst of a revolution which occurred in the early '80's.  Together they share a unlikely bond as Molina helps pass the time by recounting his favorite movie named "Kiss of the Spider Woman" starring his favorite actress Ingrid Luna.  Ingrid is played by Jennifer Lopez who also portrays the titular spider woman.  And what results is a genuinely unique blend of genres featuring several memorable song and dance numbers....often lead by J-Lo herself.  This latest version of a classic story was both directed and adapted for the big screen by Oscar-winner Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters).

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Transcript

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN - 2025

Directed by Bill Condon

Starring Tonatiuh, Diego Luna, Jennifer Lopez, Josefina Scaglione, Bruno Bichir, Aline Mayagoita, and Eduardo Ramos

Genre: Prison Drama/Musical (Audio clip)

Having seen the excellent original 1985 movie but not the stage musical which followed, I kind of thought that I knew what to expect with this....and I was about half-way there as it follows the basic overall structure of that first film. But this being a seemingly direct adaptation of the musical version, there were several tangents (often in the form of musical numbers, go figure 😆) which I did NOT expect and I would say that most of them worked for the most part. The film drags a bit in the second half as the lines blur a bit too frequently between musical fantasy and gritty prison reality....but I the last 10 to 15 minutes especially an AMAZING final shot are unassailably great! 

What this basically can be described as overall is a soupy blend musical fantasy, love story, prison drama, and political thriller. It's admittedly more ambitious than the first movie even going beyond the musical number additions. This being 2025 vs 1985, there is more time spent developing the romantic relationship between Valentin who's a political prisoner constantly being prodded for information on the revolution he's part of and Molina who's a recent convict for....solicitation, indecent exposure, it’s not made completely clear. The story treats his homosexuality with more delicacy than it did for William Hurt's Oscar-winning turn as the same character in '85. And here's the crazy part: I think Tonatiuh (who's a relative newcomer) MIGHT give the better performance. 🤔 It's probably not completely fair to even compare his performance to Hurt's as performances of homosexuals in mainstream movies are afforded much more nuance now than back in '85. Regardless, he still steals this movie from his two more seasoned co-stars....

Which is no slight to J-Lo or Cassian Andor because they are both fantastic in their own right. I had never seen Diego in anything dance or music-related before (sorry I missed Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights) but he looks and sounds great, pulling off the big numbers with aplomb. And beyond that, he brings a genuine sense of humanity and drive to his quieter scenes as Valentin - he also has strong chemistry with Tonatiuh. Comparing him to the late, great Raul Julia's performance of the same character in the '85 movie is a tougher call - Julia's portrayal had a significantly harder edge to, it still served that film well.

Jennifer Lopez has sort of a dual performance as Aurora, a big-time screen actress and as the titular Spider-Woman - both characters are kept within the musical fantasy sections and she genuinely shines! And this is coming from some one who probably hasn't enjoyed a big-screen performance of hers in years....she delivers everything you would expect from such a showy performance, especially the grace and charisma she brings to those dance sequences. 

Every number really does impress but I guess that among my biggest criticisms would be that there are likely at least one too many of them, just slows down the momentum of the story especially in the second half. That and the actual side-story - the actual PLOT of the movie which Molina is narrating to Valentin throughout? It's just not particularly nteresting and compared to the wartime story spun in the '85 movie, it's pretty low stakes. 🙄 It really becomes more about the costumes, sets, and numbers which makes sense.

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

As far as I know, pretty much all of the songs here are directly taken from the stage show….and most of them are pretty strong with our three stars performing the actual vocals.  It’s pretty clear that the show-stopper has always been the titular song which we of course don’t hear until near the end…..and props to J-Lo for belting it out with such confidence. (Audio clip) 

Look I’m not in any way a musical connoisseur but I’m guess I’m just a sucker for a song which cleverly pretty much lays out the central theme of this story….and this one occurs about half-way through the movie – J-Lo taking center stage again, looking sharp in that white dress and top hat no less.  Molina isn’t narrating the movie her character is in either….he just has a dream about and she starts singing to him…..basically telling that yes it’s ok to fantasize in technicolor if it’s your only escape.  It’s a fun sequence and she comes down to him on a staircase backlit in the dark…and then they start to dance.  The song itself is a very upbeat mambo number called, “Where You Are.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Bill Condon directed this and I’m not convinced that he was the best choice, even with a resume which would seem to lend itself to this genre.  Condon was the writer of Chicago and the director of Dreamgirls, both movie musical adaptations which I didn't love for kind of the same reason: they both felt at points too stagey and didn't seem to open up the scale of the story enough to make for a better movie. Undoubtedly it's tricky to adapt from one medium to the other...musicals flow very differently on stage vs on-screen. I felt some of that difficulty here shifting between dramatically different color palettes and films stocks (it seems) between the technicolor numbers Toniatiuh's Molina is narration and the more realistically shot prison sequences mostly shared with his fellow cell-mate Valentin played Diego Luna. It's a jarring transition at points even though that DOES seem to be the point. (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

It's not exactly news that J-Lo is a gifted stage performer but this is a different type of music than what we're used to seeing her perform - she simply glides around the frame in the best sense. :) There is one standout sequence early in particular where she's basically doing a solo dance and pulls off a Tony Manero-like bit which I don't believe I had seen before: moving in circle on one leg while seemingly SITTING...I think, attempting to describe it really doesn't do it justice. 😆 Oh the song we hear over this is “Her Name is Aurora.” (Audio clip) 

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

In case it wasn’t already obvious, there is one performer here who clearly takes the crown.  Tonatiuh is just electric here with every aspect of his performance - the monologues, the quieter moments, the singing, the dancing.  While it's easy to disagree with some decisions that this character makes, a great deal of care is given towards what drives Molina. Tonatiuh just has these big expressive eyes which are not only ideal for melodrama but MUSICAL melodrama.  Looking at his IMDB, dude’s first acting credit was just about ten years ago…..nothing I have seen but apparently he DID co-star in the acclaimed Starz drama “Vida” a few years ago – I BELIEVE he’s thirty even though he could EASILY pass for 20….youth is on his side and he's definitely an actor to watch.  For delivering what MIGHT….hopefully….be a star-making performance, Tonatiuh is the MVP.  (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Overall this was a rewarding, entertaining experience to strike enough different notes (literally) from that first movie to be worth checking out - if you haven't actually yet seen that acclaimed film from Hector Babenco (but you should), then you might even enjoy this a bit more.

Now Playing in Theaters

And that ends another GLORIOUS TECHNICOLOR review!