Released this past weekend, Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, delivers the goods in a tense and seductive film about power, desire, and ultimately tennis…
Challengers follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a former tennis player turned coach who is immersed in turning her mediocre tennis player husband, Art (Mike Faist), into a tennis champion. When Art is forced to play against his former teammate and best friend, Patrick (Josh O’Connor), in a low stake Challenger tournament, we start to witness the past unravel where secrets and hidden desires are revealed.
Over the last decade, Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria, Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All) has solidified his position as one of the best directors working in film today. What Guadagnino is able to accomplish in Challengers is truly astounding to watch unfold on the big screen, and yes, this is a movie you do not want to miss in theaters. I personally have seen it twice so far, and I plan on seeing it many more times.
On the surface, Challengers can come off as a mainstream film about tennis and love affairs (which is what it was poorly marketed as), but Luca Guadagnino’s direction and a brilliant script by first time screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes transcends this film into something much more than your typical sports/romance film.
Fun fact: writer Justin Kuritzkes is the husband of director/writer Celine Song who made my favorite movie of last year, Past Lives! Coincidence? I think not!
I know I keep talking about him, but Luca Guadagnino is a huge reason why this film works as well as it does. Guadagnino has such a unique eye for cinema, and he makes every single scene in this film feel important and suspenseful. There was not a single scene in this movie that I got bored looking at just because it was shot so well. If you have watched any Guadagnino movie you know that he loves highlighting the nature of the human body, and that continues into Challengers. The way he films the human body in Challengers is seductive, and may I say erotic? I don’t mean the sex scenes either. The way Guadagnino shoots the tennis scenes feels more sexual than the actual sex scenes, which is hilarious, but brilliant.
The tennis matches would have so many close ups, whether it’s of the immense amounts of sweat dripping from Mike Faist’s face or the slow-motion jiggle of their legs. Everything is just shot with so much care and intention. The camera movements are intense and dynamic, whether it’s a shot from underneath the tennis court or being transported into A LITERAL TENNIS BALL, which had me giddy in my seat like a six-year-old on Christmas.
The most common complaint I have been seeing about this movie is the film’s structure. The film is told through a series of non-linear flashbacks that all come back to the Challenger tournament that unfolds throughout the entire film. While I will admit the flashbacks can become a little tricky to keep up with at times, I quickly got over it, because this movie is just a massive storytelling accomplishment, and it also makes for another excuse to see the movie over and over because you pick up new things and small details each time.
I haven’t even talked about the performances yet! I have to start off with Zendaya (Dune 2, Euphoria, Zapped) who gives the best performance of her career and will surely get an Oscar nomination (hopefully) for her role as Tashi Duncan. Tashi is an intriguing but menacing character whose goals and desires seem uncertain at the beginning. Ultimately, Tashi just wants to watch some good f*****g tennis. Challengers also stars Mike Faist (West Side Story) and Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country, La Chimera). Faist plays Art, an arrogant and mediocre tennis player who also happens to be Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan’s husband.
I was so happy to see Mike Faist working with someone as artistic as Luca Guadagnino. Faist was so good in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and working with both Spielberg and Guadagnino has only made him a better actor. On the other hand, Josh O’Connor plays Patrick, who is basically the complete opposite of Art. Patrick is very good at tennis, but he is goofier and more carefree than Art, which makes for its own set of conflicts. Josh O’Connor is extremely charming in this movie and it’s impossible to not smile when he is on screen.
All of this amazing filmmaking is all tied together by a brilliant and electrifying score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network, Soul). This is one of the most unique scores I have ever heard. The score is very synth and electronic heavy which usually isn’t paired with a movie of this genre, but it works perfectly! The music would sometimes stop abruptly and then start again, making the movie seem almost unpredictable. The score manages to capture the tension and the momentum between scenes. The score can be fun and dance-like, but it can also be intense and terrifying in certain scenes.
Challengers is by far my favorite movie of 2024, and it will be very hard to beat. Challengers is everything I wanted from Luca Guadagnino, and he delivered even more. The fact that we might get another Guadagnino movie THIS YEAR is insane to think about, but I am not complaining one bit. Challengers is a movie you do not want to miss in theaters and it’s one I can’t wait to revisit several more times!