Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and Tonatiuh, is slated to hit theaters on October 10. The two-hour film pays tribute to Hollywood, the film industry, the movie musical, actors, and the idea of celebrity. Highlights from the film include actor Tonatiuh’s performance, Lopez’s dancing, and the use of Technicolor film processing.
Set in Argentina, the film tells the tale of queer political prisoner Molina (Tonatiuh), who fantasizes about Hollywood star Ingrid Luna (Lopez) to escape the agony of life in the prison cell he shares with Valentin (Luna), a Marxist revolutionary. Molina forms a bond with Valentin as he gushes over Ingrid Luna’s acting career. However, Valentin is unaware that Molina is spying on him on behalf of the prison so that Molina may be released sooner.
Throughout the film, there are essentially three stories taking place: 1.) the story we see unfold on the screen between Molina and Valentin in prison, 2.) Molina’s idyllic story about movie star Ingrid Luna, and 3.) the fictional movie titled Kiss of the Spider Woman, which focuses on Aurora, a vampy character portrayed by Ingrid Luna.
Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Beauty and the Beast), the film interestingly blends the movie musical genre with a less commercial indie feel. Placing the two cinematic styles side by side creates dissonance for me because I’ve been conditioned to expect a singular feel of the moving image throughout a film. Still, the film tried to do too much by presenting a polished, vibrant Technicolor image that contrasts with the more granular, dingy ambiance of the prison scenes and those moments in the real world.
Tonatiuh (real name: Tonatiuh Elizarraraz) is a star; after all, they share a name with the Nahua sun deity. They are a triple threat, excelling in singing, dancing, and acting. The moment that sealed this for me was when Tonatiuh beautifully sings “Where You Are,” especially when they first sing the lyrics “to hell in a handbasket” — here their pitch and the spin in their voice combine to create a floaty, whimsical feel. Their singing chops are solid: their vibrato is consistent, with the ability to use a versatile vocal mix, like Broadway performers. Tonatiuh is the strongest performer of the three leads, standing out in every scene. Their strong dance abilities are highlighted during “Where You Are,” fully capturing the emotions of the scene through their polished movements. Tonatiuh is a skilled actor whose next steps should be followed closely.
Lopez shows off her decades of singing, dancing, and acting in her portrayals of multiple characters in the film. Throughout the film, she performs various dance styles filled with so much energy that they exude the spectacle of a Broadway musical. For example, in one scene, she squats and spins on the heel of her shoe as another actor spins her around–a thrilling sight to see.
During one of the earlier dance sequences, Molina comments, “The thing I love about La Luna is that no matter how hard Hollywood tried to make her seem all-American, she never stopped being Latin,” as Ingrid Luna dances. It begs the question: Does being a good dancer/being able to move constitute what it means to be Latin?
Similarly, Lopez’s appearance early in the film is reminiscent of old Hollywood stars, e.g., Marilyn Monroe. Her hair is platinum blonde, with what looks to be white powder applied to her face and certain parts of her body. Perhaps it was done to evoke the look of the actors of the early days of Hollywood, but if Molina praised Ingrid for “being Latin,” why was her own skin tone never welcomed or shown on screen?
Off the bat, the beauty of the Technicolor work stood out in this film. Director of Photography Tobias A. Schliessler beautifully captures stunning imagery of the Golden Age of Hollywood. From the very first image of Aurora and throughout her scenes, the colors jumped out from the screen. Other memorable moments include Armando, a photographer whom she begins to fall for, and Aurora’s dance sequence on a large red set. The Technicolor images were exceptionally crisp and visually pleasing. Close-ups of actors were nicely used to create intimacy. The closeups combined with the Technicolor stylization and filter vignettes worked well to evoke the feel of classic Hollywood films like The Godfather and The Wizard of Oz.
While visually stunning, the film’s multiple plots became difficult to follow. It’s unclear whether the film was intended to be abstract or if the result was unintentional.
After about the first twenty minutes of the film, I got a sense of the film’s structure: Molina would start describing the movie to Valentin, at which point the film’s style shifts to a Technicolor fantasy. This pattern became repetitive quickly.
Given that the story takes place in Argentina during the 1980s, where Spanish is the official language, the decision to have the dialogue primarily in English was a choice. Granted, the play was written in English (which warrants a separate conversation about the anglicizing of non-Anglophone media), but I wonder what a Spanish-language film of this scale, with A-list Spanish-speaking actors Lopez and Luna, could’ve done story-wise and impact-wise for audiences, especially at this moment in the United States, where the government has deemed speaking Spanish as grounds for arrest.
Set during a time when Argentina was governed by a military dictatorship, Molina and Valentin were imprisoned for speaking out against the government. Images of two Brown prisoners being beaten and mistreated were very triggering, reflecting the current situation in the United States today. This story can serve as a reminder for us not to take lessons gleaned from the past for granted, as many Brown people have been targeted based on their skin color, the language they speak, and for protesting/resisting against the hateful rhetoric of the regime, much like Molina and Valentin.
Though I do believe that some escapism is healthy and even essential in our lives, I feel that the film avoided discussing the gravity of the situation a Brown queer man like Molina found himself in. Discussion of this difficult situation was avoided, as the film spent a considerable amount of time in Molina’s fantasies about Aurora and being her companion. In what other ways do the imprisoned cope with the harsh realities of life behind bars apart from mental escape?
Another limitation of the film is the sudden development of the relationship between Molina and Valentin, which becomes sexual. Machismo culture and queer sexuality are glossed over in the film, which contributes to a lack of reason behind the sudden attraction.
Though it has its visually stunning moments and an exciting musical score, the film does not come across as Oscar-worthy. While it premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, I can’t help but feel that its premiere at Sundance has more to do with the names attached to the project–Diego Luna, Jennifer Lopez, Bill Condon, and Tony Award-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo–than with the film’s merit. If this film were to gain Oscar nominations, such nominations would feel like a repeat of Emilia Pérez, which received so much buzz and awards despite failing to remain authentic to Mexico and its people. Kiss of the Spider Woman similarly feels like it’s trying to appeal to the Hollywood elite without fully exploring the experiences and humanity of the people featured in the story.
Kiss of the Spider Woman opens in theaters on October 10, presented by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate Films.
