Kiss of the Spider Woman is one of my favorite films of the year. It’s a testament to the power of art, imagination, non-normative gender expression, and femininity to seek freedom. The entire cast is incredible but Tonatiuh and Jennifer Lopez specifically shine. Their chemistry is electric, and they both portray different aspects of what a stunning movie character should be.
While Tonatiuh’s Louis Molina carries the emotional weight of the story, Lopez portrays the dream of the glamorous movie star Ingrid Luna or La Luna. She is the embodiment of beauty, sexuality, and otherness that has been associated with movie stars in the past. Those distant heroes that seem untouchable, molded into a dough that separates them from the rest of humanity. As she dances, sings, and acts, Lopez nails her portrayal of the dazzling character. She shines unlike any other time she’s been on the big screen, although as a mega successful pop star, Lopez already has a respectable history of memorable movie performances.
She’s been the tapestry for creativity in The Cell, a survivor of domestic abuse in Enough, the Queen Bee matriarch of the strip club in Hustlers, and the biopic legend in Selena. She set screens on fire with her galvanizing aura acting opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight and supported Jharrel Jerome in Unstoppable with such subdued rendition of the real life Judy Robles, allowing Jerome to shine in a rare moment of selflessness on Lopez’s part.
As La Luna, Lopez is on another level of mastery of her craft. Her diva-like, real-life status as a celebrity is well in command in this musical. La Luna is a larger than life figure with skin like porcelain and a face carved in marble, by a careful Renaissance sculptor. She should seem both approachable like the icon of a Madonna during dark times, but also ever distant like a northern star. Lopez perfectly captures that and more, using her background in dance and music to elevate the role. In one sequence, she gives a Bob Fosse-inspired musical number wearing a white fedora and a blazer mini-dress. It’s a physical work that doesn’t spare any detail, and makes perfect use of Lopez’s stunning, long legs, all the while delivering the perfect escapism to the imprisoned, haunted Molina who finds a Biblical-like refuge in La Luna.
Although this article is a celebration of Lopez’s performance and a tiny hope that she will get her due, worthy award recognition, there’s also a great admiration for Tonatiuh. They outact William Hurt in the original. Their portrayal is more sensitive and more authentically representative of the genderqueer character in the film. Despite Hurt’s veteran, award-achieving actor status, Tonatiuh begs to differ as a more subtle, fragile, and nuanced portrayal of Molina’s struggles and inner conflict. It should put them on the spot as a force of acting not to be dismissed.
How rare for a remake to surpass the original or -for those who may think I am exaggerating- be on an equal level. But Bill Condon’s remake is excellent and raw, seeps under the skin, and stays there for a while. Kiss of the Spider Woman is a visual and intellectual feast, a celebration of freedom and art. It also exploits how totalitarian systems exploit people’s weaknesses and non-conforming desires to turn them against each other, leveraging poverty and hardships as key points to control and hurt those unprotected by a higher authority. If this is a difficult truth to swallow, cameras, scripts, and directors turn it into a picture that dances in front of our eyes to revive our fighting spirit. Even if she -sadly- doesn’t get her rightful Best Supporting nomination, Lopez’s performance will live in the history of cinema forever.
