Jennifer Lopez unleashes her star power in upcoming musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, written and directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls).
The film is based on the Tony-winning stage musical of the same name, which is in turn based on the 1976 novel by Manuel Puig. In 1985, prior to the release of the musical, director Héctor Babenco also adapted Puig’s novel to the screen. His Kiss of the Spider Woman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, and star William Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Just like in prior adaptations, Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman sees political prisoner Valentín (Diego Luna) sharing a prison cell with queer window dresser Molina (Tonatiuh), who’s been convicted of public indecency. This version of Kiss of the Spider Woman makes more clear than other versions that Molina is a trans woman.
Valentín and Molina form an unlikely bond during their time in prison, with Molina telling Valentín the plot of her favorite Hollywood musical: Kiss of the Spider Woman. The film’s lead is Ingrid Luna (Lopez), Molina’s favorite actress of all time.
The film’s trailer above features Lopez letting loose in dazzling song and dance sequences, with Luna and Tonatiuh getting in on the action, too. However, while Kiss of the Spider Woman received mostly positive reviews out of its premiere at 2025’s Sundance Film Festival, not every critic was impressed.
In his review for Mashable out of Sundance, critic Siddhant Adlakha wrote, „The story is ripe for visual re-invention — or at the very least, visual panache. And while Condon’s version aims for something grandiose (while featuring updated sexual politics), its execution fails to capture the imagination, let alone anything resembling time and place.“