Jennifer Lopez shines in 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' trailer

Updated June 9, 2025, 12:43 p.m. | By Music Reporter

Is this J.Lo's best shot at winning an Oscar? Film critics are already raving about her performance in Bill Condon's upcoming musical film.

Jennifer Lopez as Ingrid Luna — Jennifer Lopez/ YouTube ('Kiss from the Spider Woman' movie trailer)

Jennifer Lopez stars in a new film, 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' and early reviews indicate this could be her best role yet.

The movie is based on Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, and John Kander's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, which debuted in 1993.

The musical adapted Argentine author Manuel Puig's 1976 novel, 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'.

Bill Condon, the Academy Award winner behind 'Dreamgirls and 'Beauty and the Beast', directs the latest adaptation.

Lopez plays a famous actress named Ingrid Luna. Two men stuck in an Argentine prison pass the time by recounting a movie starring Luna.

A poster of one of her films, 'Kiss of the Spider Woman', hangs on a prison wall.

"Set in an Argentinian prison in 1983 during the military dictatorship, Luis Molina, a gay hairdresser, is serving an eight-year 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 states.

Condon's adaptation also stars Diego Luna (Valentin Arregui/Armando) and Tonatiuh Elizarraraz (Luis Molina/Kendall Nesbitt).

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The film received a standing ovation when it was screened at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Several critics have given the film favourable reviews.

"Bill Condon’s film version brilliantly reinvents [the] Broadway musical and finally gives Jennifer Lopez the role she was born to play," a Deadline review read.

Rotten Tomato critics agreed: "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."

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There is already talk that the film, which hits cinemas in October is an Oscar contender. However, Lopez is not thinking that far ahead.

She told Variety that she doesn't even want to start the conversation.

"Of course, I would love it to get the recognition that I believe it deserves.”

We don't blame her for avoiding Oscar talk. Her 2019 film 'Hustlers', which starred Cardi B, Lizzo, and Keke Palmer, also received rave reviews but was snubbed by the Academy.

The snub left her heartbroken. She was nominated for a Golden Globe award but lost to Laura Dern.

"I really thought I had a chance. I feel like I let everybody down," the 55-year-old said in her Netflix documentary, 'Halftime'.

Could her role in Condon's new film finally get her the recognition she deserves? Only time will tell, but for now, Lopez is just happy to star in her dream role.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in January, Lopez revealed that her love for musicals is what inspired her to become an entertainer.

"That’s what made me want to be a singer and an actor and a dancer; watching musicals with my mom when I was growing up — me and my two sisters. We loved them and we’d sing around the house. I honestly thought I was going to go on to Broadway because I started as a dancer and a singer and I was doing tours in Europe and in Japan. I thought, OK, next step would be Broadway. Then I got sent out to Hollywood and the rest is kind of history, and [my career] took a different turn.”

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