Kiss of the Spider Woman

In a Buenos Aires prison, in 1975, Luis Alberto Molina (Molina), thirty-seven years old and convicted of sexually corrupting minors, is telling his roommate Valentin Arregui Paz (Valentin), twenty-six years old and detained for political involvement, the details of a movie as they try to fall asleep in their shared prison cell.

The main character in the movie is Irena, a refugee in the U.S. who fears she will become a panther if a man kisses her. She falls in love with and marries an architect. To minimize her fears, Irena agrees to go to a psychologist, but he makes her nervous, so she stops going without her husband knowing.

Valentin interrupts Molina’s story throughout to ask questions, to offer his thoughts, and to make snide remarks that anger Molina. Yet, Molina continues. The husband starts spending more time with his assistant, who’s in love with him, and when Irena sees them together, she suspects an affair. Irena turns into the panther as she follows the assistant into the park. Molina stops sharing the story so they can sleep.