At the tail end of the Dirty War, Luis Molina, a gay window dresser convicted of public indecency, shares the same cell as Valentin Arregui Paz, a political dissident involved with a revolutionary group. Though initially irritated by Molina's flamboyance and chatterbox personality, Valentin agrees to let Molina tell him the plot of his favorite Hollywood silver screen musical, The Kiss of the Spider Woman.[9]
The in-universe film stars Ingrid Luna as Aurora, a successful magazine publisher; Molina's retelling also casts himself as Kendall (Aurora's assistant and a closeted homosexual) and Valentin as Armando (a photographer and Aurora's love interest). Aurora and Kendall accompany Armando to shoot in his and Aurora's home village. Aurora and Armando fall in love, but also encounter Paulina (Armando's old flame) and Johnny Desiderio (an antagonistic gangster).
Molina is supposed to be spying on Valentin to the warden in exchange for potential parole. Despite being eager to be released from prison as his mother is ailing, Molina is hesitant to report on Valentin and continuously cares for the latter as he is tortured by the prison officers.
Molina gradually continues his retelling. Aurora learns that the village is protected from malevolent spirits by the Spider Woman in exchange for the regular sacrifice of a native woman's lover. Aurora realizes this means Armando will be taken from her and attempts to drive him away. They reaffirm their mutual love, but Kendall betrays them to Johnny. Paulina helps the couple escape into the jungle, where they find the Spider Woman. She attempts to take Armando, but Kendall sacrifices himself instead.
As anti-government protests worsen, Valentin and Molina become lovers. The warden approves Molina's parole, but secretly has him followed in hopes that Molina will lead the police to Valentin's group. Before his release, Molina offers to contact Valentin's group, and the two bid each other goodbye. Molina reunites with his mother and the rest of his family. He makes contact with Valentin's group and passes on some information in a cinema. Officers attack them and in the ensuing escape, one of Valentin's comrades shoots Molina. As he lays dying, he imagines himself in a dress dancing with Valentin before being welcomed by the Spider Woman.
Later that year, the military junta is toppled and Valentin is freed. He recalls Molina as his love.
In December 2023, Jennifer Lopez was announced to star as Ingrid Luna in a film adaptation of the musical with Bill Condon directing from his own screenplay. The independently-financed production was executive produced by Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina through their Nuyorican Productions banner, while Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy and Greg Yolen served as producers. Choreographer Sergio Trujillo and co-choreographer Brandon Bieber created the dance sequences throughout. Christopher Scott choreographed "Gimme Love". Upon the announcement, a casting call opened for an unknown to play the role of Molina.[10][11]
In March 2024, dancer Tony Dovolani announced on his Instagram page that he had joined the cast as mob boss Johnny Desiderio.[12] In April, it was announced that Diego Luna and Tonatiuh had joined the cast as Valentin Arregui and Luis Molina, with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon boarding the project as executive producers through the Artists Equity banner. Luna also served as an executive producer.[13] Lopez and Luna were Condon's "first and only" choices for their roles, while Tonatiuh was selected from hundreds of actors who auditioned.[14]
Colleen Atwood served as costume designer.[15] Composer and pianist Sam Davis wrote the incidental underscore for the dialogue scenes, marking his film scoring debut after collaborating with Condon as the dance music arranger for Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast (2017).[16]
Filming
On March 20, 2024, Lopez announced that production on the film had begun, with the intention to have a fast turnaround time so she can launch her This Is Me... Live tour on June 26, which was later cancelled on May 31.[17]Principal photography began in New Jersey on March 21, 2024.[18][19] On May 10, Lopez confirmed on Live with Kelly and Mark that she completed filming on her scenes and that she lost weight for the role of Aurora, describing the shoot as "equal parts exhilarating and exhausting".[20] Her "elaborate" musical numbers were each filmed in one take.[21] Production wrapped on June 16, 2024.[22]
The film is dedicated to the memories of Ebb (who died in 2004), McNally (who died in 2020 from COVID-19) and Chita Rivera (who originated the title role on stage and died in 2024).[23]
The film's soundtrack album was released on October 3, 2025 by Lakeshore Records.[24] Lopez's rendition of the title song was released as a promotional single on September 5, 2025.[25] Another song by Lopez ("Never You") and a song by Tonatiuh ("She's a Woman") were released before the soundtrack album release as promotional singles.
"Only in the Movies" – Molina and the People in His Life[26]
Stage-to-screen changes
In adapting the musical to the screen, Condon cited Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation of another Kander and Ebb musical, Cabaret, as a source of inspiration. This resulted in cutting almost every song set in reality at the prison where Molina and Arregui are held (including "Dressing Them Up," "Over the Wall" and "The Day After That") and only keeping the ones set in the "fantasies" Molina comes up with (except for "And the Moon Grows Dimmer," "Come" and "Anything for Him") in order to create a stark contrast between the grittiness of prison life in Argentina during the Dirty War and the Technicolor lavishness and beauty of a classic MGM musical film.
As a result, the aspect ratio shifts between the 1.85∶1 format during the prison scenes and the 1.33∶1 format for the fantasy sequences. In addition, three new songs were written for the film by Kander with existing additional lyrical material by Ebb, entitled "I Will Dance Alone", "Never You", and "An Everyday Man" (which were all actually used in the original, very different 1990 premiere production of the musical in Purchase, New York).[27][14][26]
Release
Kiss of the Spider Woman was released in the United States on October 10, 2025.[28] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2025, marking Condon's first film premiere at the festival since Gods and Monsters (1998), and received a standing ovation from the audience, which reportedly left Lopez in tears.[29][30][31][32] It later held additional screenings at the festival, with all showings of the film being sold-out in advance of the premiere.[33][34]
The film's promotional campaign launched on June 5, 2025, with the release of the teaser trailer.[41] The following day, Lopez made an appearance at the 2025 WorldPride celebration in Washington, D.C. to share an exclusive clip from the film and perform the title song live for the first time.[42][43] The official trailer was released on August 20, 2025, alongside the poster.[44]
Reception
Box office
Kiss of the Spider Woman opened on October 10, 2025 in 1,331 theaters, and earned $351,496 in its first day, ultimately grossing $891,046 for the weekend, ranking twelfth at the domestic box office,[4][3] and fourth among the new releases behind Tron: Ares, Roofman and Soul on Fire.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 125 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Weaving a visually sumptuous web of musical intrigue, Kiss of the Spider Woman showcases beauty in tragedy through wondrous performances by Jennifer Lopez, Tonatiuh Elizarraraz and Diego Luna."[45]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[46]
Fionnuala Halligan of Screendaily lamented that despite the "committed" and "sincere" cast, "it's disappointing that what they are peddling has become so distorted".[47] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood wrote about a "stunning new film adaptation" in which Condon demonstrates that the musical genre is "still fresh and alive and relevant even on the budget of independent filmmaking".[48] Aisha Harris of NPR wrote "Luna and Lopez are great, but this is Tonatiuh's movie -- he takes a role that could easily be a caricature of queer flamboyance and pathos, and grounds it with depth and soul."[49] Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast wrote "Condon confirms that he's simply unrivaled when it comes to directing movie musicals, and the three leads deliver a trifecta of tour de forces."[50]
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter delivered as a bottom line the following assessment: "entertaining, even if it soars only intermittently".[23] Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire gave the film a 'C+' rating, wondering what's a "star-making performance [Tonatiuh's] when the package surrounding the actor is otherwise so ordinary and un-cosmic?"[51] Peter Debruge of Variety praised how Condon gives Tonatiuh his Jennifer Hudson moment in "She's a Woman".[52]
In contrast, Benjamin Lee of The Guardian wrote that “we’re in safest hands with Lopez and Condon when he’s playing in that sandbox as the cell-based scenes can be a little stagey and rushed in comparison”,[53] with Collider’s Bill Bonaime also expressing that Lopez “is a blast in a musical that struggles without her.”[54] Mae Abdulbaki of Screen Rant praised both the film and Lopez, writing "Lopez has had a successful singing career, but she’s never sounded better than in this lavish musical. Thrilling and sharp dance numbers, glitzy costumes, and campy dialogue all come together to create a dazzling, show-stopping musical that, while not perfect, had my audience clapping after a few of the onscreen performances."[55] By mid-September (three weeks prior to the film’s theatrical release), awards prospects for the performance of Tonatiuh have dwindled, while those of Lopez’s have steadily risen.[56][57] Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter lists Lopez as a frontrunner for a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 98th Academy Awards,[57] with IndieWire's Marcus Jones and Variety’s Clayton Davis also ranking her as a strong contender.[58][59]
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