Rob Reviews "Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)"

When you think of a film like 1985’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, it was definitely ahead of its time.  Tackling issues of political violence and incarceration as well as it’s VERY adult subject matter of a political prisoner who winds up sharing a cell with a gay man with an overactive imagination had to have had parents groups and conservatives in general losing their minds.  Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel pushes the limits on multiple levels, and the results of the cinematic adaptation earned William Hurt an Academy Award alongside three other nominations, including Best Picture.

Just over forty years later, Bill Condon (responsible for the last two Twilight films as well as Dreamgirls) has adapted the stage musical version of the source material as a major motion picture.  With his credentials for large-scale sweeping productions as well as smaller ones like Kinsey or Gods and Monsters, I had more than fair-to-midland expectations here, and I honestly do not believe he disappointed.

Diego Luna plays the role previously filled by Raul Julia as Valentin, a man being held in 1983 Argentina as a political prisoner whose entire world is crumbling around him as his jailers believe he has information that can destroy the unrest around them.  When he meets Luis (Tonatiuh, fresh off last year’s Carry-On and the series Vida), their lives intersect via the chaos of their land and the tale of Luis’ favorite movie starring his favorite actress in Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez).

To fill the shoes of a role that won his predecessor one of the most prized awards in Hollywood, Tonatiuh absolutely CRUSHES it here.  He is able to bring Luis to life without careening into a stereotype of the person he could be portrayed at and has a gravity to him that counterbalances Luna’s more serious and rebellious Valentin perfectly.  Given that the musical piece of it is contained within the movie that Luis is relaying to Valentin also helps keep the two worlds separate in order to not undermine the severity of the stakes that both of them face, although from different angles.

As can be imagined, both of them are integrated as people into the musical side of things with their orbits circling Lopez’s character, and all three of them complement each other brilliantly.  This kind of film is VERY much in her wheelhouse where she can display her dancing and musical abilities without trying to carry a film from a dramatic standpoint.  Since the film-within-a-film is also modeled during the Golden Age of Hollywood, she knows how to take those liberties of being over-dramatic as they did back then and works them in the exact right balance of cheesy and theatric.

Everything works in this film and does so at all the right moments.  Even the end credits keep the mood of the film intact all the way until the lights go up in the auditorium, which I found pretty great as well.  As the 2025 film season starts to get more crowded than a New York subway at rush hour, Kiss of the Spider Woman is one of those that sit on the very thin line of what could be an awards contender or could wind up lost in the shuffle.  An another year that doesn’t have the level of high quality that this year does, it would definitely find itself in the former category, but do not sleep on this one!