STORYLINE: In 1983 Argentina during the military dictatorship, Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser, is serving an eight-year jail sentence for allegedly corrupting a minor. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, Molina imagines films starring a classic screen actress named Ingrid Luna, including a role of the spider woman, who kills her prey with a kiss. Molina’s life is upended when a Marxist, Valentin Arregui Paz, is brought into his cell and the two form an unlikely bond. (IMDb)

   Film remakes are like roller coasters.  Like roller coasters, remakes have their ups (The Thing – 1982, Ben Hur – 1959), their downs (Psycho – 1998, Going in Style – 2017), and the straightaways where the films are just as entertaining (The Magnificent Seven – 1960).  Forty years after its release in 1985, Kiss of the Spider Woman has been remade.

    The successor, to the incredible Oscar winning 1985 film, combines an overarching powerful story with lavish production numbers created in the movie within the movie.  It’s a visual and emotional film to take in.

   Kiss of the Spider Woman weaves two tales in its story.  The first is a tale of survival.   The second tale is one of love.  As both are interwoven the film.  Like the two tales, there are two presentations of those tales. The over all story is dramatic while the movie within a movie is a musical.  The two blend together beautifully.

   The 1985 Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring William Hurt on his Academy Awatd winning performance, sets an incredibly high bar.  The 2025 remake tries hard to match the quality of the 1985 original. While a strong film, it falls short of the mark. That is not a slight against the 2025 Kiss of the Spider Woman but a statement on the strength of the 1985 Kiss of the Spider Woman.

   Until next time I will see you at the movies!