Kiss of the Spider Woman review: surrender to the magic of Technicolor wonder and whimsy

Whether you go to the cinema to catch the latest Marvel movie or an indie darling, there’s one thing that unites us all: we watch films to escape. Kiss of the Spider Woman embodies this desire, and wraps it warmly in a web of music, passion and political expression.

I’m sure many of us have similar memories of sitting down as kids to watch our first movies, many of which would share the common trait of also being musicals. I can vividly remember watching, and being enchanted by, Singin’ In The Rain, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Disney animated films and the oddity that is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (I did not recall how weirdly horny that film was until I rewatched it as an adult. What the hell was going on in that studio?)

Movies and musicals are like crackers and vegemite

The movie and the musical have had a long and storied relationship, bolstered by the invention of Technicolor to capture those dazzling sets and costumes, and the perfect pairing of song’n’dance with animated princesses and anthropomorphic animals. But the movie musical has been dramatically falling out of favour for at least a decade.

Sure, La La Land was lauded for its indie drama sensibilities in a multi-million dollar production, but almost 10 years on and I don’t remember a single song from it. When I think of great musicals of the 2000s, I think of the movies Chicago and Moulin Rouge! and the stage show of Wicked. In other words, I like ’em with a hefty serving of razzle dazzle.

Lucky for me then that Bill Condon – a director with plenty of pedigree and pizazz, with directing and writing credits on Dreamgirls, Chicago and The Greatest Showman – signed on to adapt one of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s greatest stage shows, Kiss of the Spider Woman.

It has been adapted for film before. The 1985 version, directed by Héctor Babenco and starring William Hurt and Raul Julia, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where Hurt won the Best Actor award and Babenco was nominated for the Palme d’Or. But we are 40 years on, and it’s time to hit refresh.

Watch the trailer for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Improving a classic

Before the film really gets started, there are obvious improvements on the 1985 film. For one, the William Hurt role of Molina, an openly gay Argentinian prisoner obsessed with movies, is now played by Tonatiuh, a queer non-binary performer with Mexican heritage. What Tonatiuh brings to the role of Molina, aside from authenticity, is a fearless theatricality so sincere that it’s impossible not to get swept up in his fantasies.

Another great addition is Jennifer Lopez in the dual roles of Ingrid Luna, the movie star of Molina’s dreams, and the titular Spider Woman herself. Lopez, now 56, burns up the dance floor with precise and electric choreography. (Here we must also applaud Sergio Trujillo for devising the steps.) She also sings her goddamn heart out, and brings a similar theatrical sincerity which so nails the tone of the mid-century musical within the film.

Diego Luna, fresh from an all-timer performance in Star Wars spin-off Andor, plays another political prisoner, Valentín. He is forced to share his jail cell with Molina, whose initially irritatingly flamboyant personality begins to grow on him as they share stories of the outside world.

Luna takes this job as seriously as he took Andor, which creates a beautifully charged dynamic between him and Tonatiuh as they inevitably cross from platonic to romantic.

The set up of a queer relationship had obvious groundbreaking implications in the 1980s, but refreshing the concept of being gay in 2025 is a tough job – which means great things for progression of course, but Condon and co have their work cut out for them in making the narrative relevant.

Reflecting a political climate that sees transgender people under fire simply for existing, there is a renewed focus on gender roles and self-expression via clothing in this version of Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Tonatiuh really shines in this regard, playing vivaciously with the different roles Molina might fulfill. He is a man, but he feels more like a woman. He loves men, but he is afraid of being one. This shift reframes the story’s most mysterious villain, the Spider Woman, as a manifestation of both society’s cruel treatment of minorities and a representation of internalised gender dysmorphia.

Kiss of the Spider Woman remembers the past

The songs, written many decades ago, bring a classic vibe to the film that, despite many attempts, modern composers just can’t seem to recreate. And really, when it comes to Kander and Ebb, the duo most famous for writing the powerhouse that is Cabaret, a musical that has quite regrettably swung back into full relevance, why bother trying? Sometimes the oldies really are the best.

Kiss of the Spider Woman shines brightest in the memory or dream sequences, where Molina recounts what he remembers of Ingrid Luna’s film career and weaves it into the terrifying political unrest (Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’) that is happening just outside the prison walls.

It’s a great narrative device, and despite being lovingly mimicked and endlessly parodied, it remains a guaranteed good time. It’s also great to see Diego Luna dancing again, despite a long break from it after the box office bomb that was Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.

This earnestness of the film, something which is quite typical of last century’s musicals, had an obviously jarring effect on the audience that I watched it with. Many viewers laughed, scoffed and groaned at moments that weren’t so much funny as they were super sincere. And look, I get it. So many of today’s films are focused on being an off-the-cuff, slightly ironic experience that’s more akin to peeping into a window undetected – and that’s so incompatible with the way movie musicals need you to feel.

If you’re too afraid to look a performer in the eye and allow yourself to feel a frisson, then Kiss of the Spider Woman is probably not for you. But if you’re not that sort of coward, and you recall how good it felt to escape with a song and dance show, then I urge you to see it in a cinema as soon as possible. Lord knows how much we need it right now.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is in cinemas nationally from 30 October.

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