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Considering that Jennifer Lopez has proven for decades that she’s a bonafide triple threat as an actress, singer, and dancer, it’s truly shocking that she has never starred in a musical. Sure, she’s played singers before in movies, but Lopez has never been a part of a bombastic, old-school Hollywood-type musical that allows her to flex her talents simultaneously. She finally gets her chance with the latest adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Bill Condon—a man who knows his way around a musical, considering he directed Dreamgirls, as well as wrote Chicago and The Greatest Showman. Naturally, Lopez becomes the shining star in a musical that’s a mixed bag when it pivots away from her.
What Is ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ About?
Condon’s take on Kiss of the Spider Woman is the latest of many. Starting as a novel in 1976 by Manuel Puig, this story has been turned into a 1983 stage play, a 1993 Broadway musical adaptation, and a 1985 film starring William Hurt and Raul Julia. In Kiss of the Spider Woman, we’re taken to an Argentinian prison in 1983, where Luis Molina (Carry-On’s Tonatiuh), a gay prisoner arrested for public indecency, is placed in a cell with political revolutionary Valentín (Diego Luna). As the threat of an uprising mounts on the streets, the warden wants Luis to trick Valentín into talking and revealing his plans. But that will be harder than it sounds.
As the story begins, Valentín only wants to write, study, and think—in silence—which is hard, considering that Luis is a flamboyant character who wants to espouse the beauty of cinema to his new cellmate. Valentín doesn’t approve of Luis’ lifestyle, while Luis couldn’t care less about the larger scale of Valentín’s political plans. But the two start to find some common interest when Luis tells Valentín the story of his favorite movie: Kiss of the Spider Woman. The movie is a technicolor musical with wild twists starring Luis’ favorite star, Ingrid Luna (Lopez). As Luis tells this story, we see this grandiose musical come to life, with parts played by Tonatiuh and Luna as well, and these two prisoners start to form an unshakable bond.
‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Is at Its Best When Condon Embraces His Musical Side
It shouldn’t be a surprise, given Condon’s history, that Kiss of the Spider Woman truly shines when it explores the musical side of its story. The music itself isn’t particularly remarkable, and you won’t leave the theater with a tune stuck in your head, but the striking musical numbers are where this film really finds its groove. Lopez is almost always at the center of these numbers—as she should be—and with these performances, Condon is playing with a style that clearly references classic musicals. One sequence has Condon also referencing Chicago, while other numbers are filled with references to An American in Paris, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and many others.
Condon’s take on Kiss of the Spider Woman is all about the transformative power of the arts, how essential escapism is, and shows how even the most unexpected art can bring people together. Lopez is an absolute powerhouse, and she’s never had a role like this. Not only can she sing and dance in a way that completely blows us away, despite decades of knowing what she’s capable of, but through her, we understand why a film like this could mean so much to Luis. Even though the music itself is nothing to write home about, Lopez makes the musical aspects of this story memorable regardless.
‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’s Prisoner Is No Match for Jennifer Lopez
As Luis and Valentín grow closer, Valentín frequently asks Luis to continue Kiss of the Spider Woman’s story, which he originally was ambivalent about. Similarly, the further the film goes, the more the audience wants to keep returning to this musical world as well and escape the prisoner story. That’s not to say that our time spent in the prison is bad—on the contrary—but it doesn’t have the same energy or excitement, and in a film that proves the importance of escapism, we naturally want more of that escapism too.
While Condon’s directing and script mostly nail the over-the-top and often silly nature of musicals, he struggles more when we focus on the prison. The scenes between Tonatiuh and Luna have their heart in the right place, as both begin to feel compassion, care, and acceptance of each other. But Condon has apparently borrowed the staginess from the theatrical adaptations, and these sequences can’t help but feel like we’re watching these two actors in a play instead of a movie. We’re constantly switching between a musical movie that knows it’s a movie and embraces the absurdity inherent within that genre, and a harsher movie that seems to think it belongs in a play.
Condon has shown in the past he can handle films that are largely about the bond between two people, as with 1998’s Gods and Monsters and the 2019 spy thriller, The Good Liar. But here, the dynamic between Luis and Valentín often has its charms but is never quite the emotional, overwhelming experience that we want it to be. From the very beginning, we know where this story is heading for these two, and much of the prison segments are just waiting for these two to come to the same understanding. This is a fantastic showcase for Tonatiuh, who gets to show his range in both the prison chapters and the bigger musical numbers. No one has more to do in Kiss of the Spider Woman than Tonatiuh, and he handles it all quite well here, and in one of his first major film roles. Meanwhile, Luna, alongside Tonatiuh and Lopez, can’t help but get a bit lost in this story. The spotlight is rarely on him alone, and unfortunately, we’ve seen the places this film takes him in other, better films. Luna is always good, but he never has the chance to truly stand out the way the other two stars do.
‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Is a Mixed Bag That Never Quite Ascends to Greatness
As these two stories start to coalesce and the themes start to intermingle, Kiss of the Spider Woman never quite makes these connections as tight as they could be. We see glimpses of each story permeating the next, but often with weak threads. As we watch these two threads come to their conclusion, it’s clear where Condon’s interests have been all along. It’s in these final moments that we come to see that maybe allowing the musical elements to permeate the darker parts of the story might have been a stronger choice, as that’s where Condon’s talents truly lie within this film.
Kiss of the Spider Woman is yet another decent adaptation, but even Condon’s visual panache and scale can’t quite elevate this story to greatness. Lopez absolutely proves that this should be the first of many musicals that she works on, and if Condon and Lopez collaborated on a project that primarily focused on her performance, it would likely be stunning. But in a film that is so much about the beauty of escapism and the power of films, Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman doesn’t provide enough of that to make this movie fully work.
Kiss of the Spider Woman had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Bill Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman succeeds when it’s a musical starring Jennifer Lopez, but can’t quite make the prison sequences as interesting.
- Release Date
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January 26, 2025
- Runtime
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128 minutes
- Director
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Bill Condon
- Writers
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Bill Condon, Manuel Puig
- Producers
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Barry Josephson, Ben Affleck, Benny Medina, Diego Luna, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Kevin Halloran, Matt Damon, Sam Weisman, Greg Yolen, Michael Joe, Tom Kirdahy, Pamela Thur, Dani Bernfeld
Cast
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Diego Luna
Valentin Arregui
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Tonatiuh Elizarraraz
Luis Molina
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Jennifer Lopez
Ingrid Luna
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- Bill Condon once again proves he knows how to write and direct musical numbers.
- Jennifer Lopez finally gets a musical to show she’s truly an incredible triple threat.
- The heart of the story, set at the prison, doesn’t have the emotional connection or excitement as the musical scenes.
- The staginess of certain scenes feel out of place.
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