KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

'Kiss of the Spider Woman' was originally a book released in 1976 that was then turned into a Broadway musical in 1992. The book was also turned into a movie in 1985, for which William Hurt won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Actor, but the 2025 film marks the first time the musical has been made into a film. Similar to Condon's work on 'Chicago', the film takes a lot of the musical and reinvents it to make it work in a movie musical. All the songs that don't take place in the meta-narrative of the in-universe movie are either removed entirely or shortened. This is for realism, and it works in terms of making the prison feel grounded and gritty, but then, on the other hand, it makes the musical numbers very disjointed because large stretches of time go without them.

The numbers are very well performed and shot; the big dance numbers feel very extravagant and feel ripped out of the golden era of the screen musical. But again, having the musical numbers exist only in this fake movie makes this feel not like a musical, as the songs are infrequently related to characters, nor do they move the plot of the cellmates along. There are a few numbers where we see the in-movie film blend with the cell plot, and that's where the film soars. The number 'Where You Are' should have been the blueprint to the rest of the film, and would have made it more engaging as a musical.

The performances are the standout here; Jennifer Lopez does a great job across the three characters she portrays. In the musical numbers, it's everything you could want from her; the dancing and singing are phenomenal, and she does a great job of dipping into that golden era of Hollywood. Diego Luna and Tonatiuh are the real heart of the film here. Every time it cuts to a musical number, which I would normally be enjoying, I wanted to go back and see their story blossom. Their chemistry is truly beautiful to watch, and I think the film would have been stronger if it focused more on them and less on shoehorning in the musical element.

I'm conflicted on my final feelings about 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'. While the musical numbers are stunning and well-executed, because it removes so much from the stage show, I can't say this is a faithful adaptation of its stage counterpart. On the other hand, the relationship between Luis and Valentin is so beautiful and well-acted, yet the film is too unfocused on both aspects. I understand the need to change things when moving from one medium to the next, but I question why so much of the musical is removed if this were to be an adaptation of the stage show. There is a world where this works, but I can't say this particular adaptation successfully pulls off its promise. We live in a world now where the best musicals fully indulge themselves in the genre; films like 'Wicked' and 'In the Heights' are musicals through and through. This isn't the late to early 2000s, where we need our musicals to be grounded and filled with realism. This film is stuck with the idea that the audience needs to be grounded in reality to be okay with the musical numbers, but that's just not the case anymore. Audiences don't need to be "tricked" to be sold on a musical, and this particular film would have benefited from leaning more into the musical world.

'Kiss of the Spider Woman' does have gorgeous musical numbers and a beautiful story of two cellmates bonding, but the two fail to be integrated successfully to pull off a satisfying final product. The performances are knockouts, as is the singing and dancing, but this spider is one that I only want to kiss once.