Kiss Of The Spider Woman Movie Review (2025)

A striking new musical about an Argentine revolutionary and a gay movie buff who tells stories to occupy their minds in jail, Kiss Of The Spider Woman highlights a creative narrative, a good score, and an outstanding performance – but it’s not who you might expect.

When I first heard that they were going to turn the 1992 Broadway musical of Kiss Of The Spider Woman into a movie musical, I was both excited and wary. I am a huge theatre nerd and a theatre critic, and with my deep love of musicals in general, this could go one of two ways – it would either do the show justice or it really wouldn’t. Luckily, I’m excited to tell you about the finished product.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman takes place in a jail in Argentina during the end of the “Dirty War” in 1983, where revolutionaries were jailed and tortured for information. The sassy and effeminate Molina, who has been convicted of sexual indecency, is housed in a cell with the resolute revolutionary Valentin, who is under pressure from his jailers. To help pass the time, Molina tells the story of his favorite movie, starring his favorite actress, Ingrid Luna, posters of whom adorn his dirty prison wall. The men bond over time, each hoping to be released unharmed.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. Like I said, I was a little bit nervous, but it is extremely well done and passes muster for both the movie and theatre critic in me.

Directed by Bill Condon (Chicago, Dreamgirls, Beauty and the Beast) and starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh, there are lots of things to discuss here, but one that has to go first.

Tonatiuh, an actor who I am not familiar with, is a revelation as Molina. Molina is a nuanced role that requires vulnerability and depth. William Hurt won the Academy Award for the role in the original movie version in 1985, and I was curious how Tonatiuh would be. Honestly, he is everything one would hope for and more. The deep visceral pain about who he is and what he wants with a joking air and a light touch, he is incredible and I hope that he receives much deserved accolades for his performance.

The score is incredibly enjoyable, but there are only a few songs that really stick out – and one in particular. “She’s a Woman,” which is sung by Molina, is a ballad about his love and envy of every small movie moment of a starlet, with their perfume, perfect brushes, and lilac bath water. But at the same time, he sings softly about how she is lucky to just be a woman. It is one of the most intimate songs that I’ve heard from a musical and it made my heart swoon. That was the first time I got choked up.

There is a stark dichotomy between the drab jail cell and the bright technicolor movie scenes of the imagined movie. In the fantasy, everything has a sheen to it. Every hair is perfect, every dress flows in time, and all of the characters are fully choreographed during the dance sequences. It is beautiful – and when you are ripped back into the jail cell, it is also deliberately jarring.

The relationship between Molina and Valentin is one that develops over the course of the story. While they have one interaction in their cell together – one man more emotional and the other more logical – it is also delicious to see them as characters in the fictional movie together playing different roles.

There are some cute nods to culture in the movie (“No matter how hard Hollywood tried to make her American, she never stopped being Latin”) and also discussions to be had about the spectrums of love, sexuality, logic, and sacrifice. All of these are touched on in the film, and, at the end, after the credits have rolled and the music has finished, I’m still sitting here thinking about all of these things.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is an excellent new movie musical with lots of heart and gorgeous visuals. I look forward to watching it again soon because I can’t stop marinating on it. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Runtime: 128 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: R

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? No, but I got choked up

My Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

Available: Currently in theaters