Film Review: CHALLENGERS (2024): Luca Guadagnino’s Sizzling Tennis Drama Will Leave Audiences Breathless

Challengers Review

Challengers (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Luca Guadagnino, written by Justin Kuritzkes and starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Bryan Doo, Shane T Harris, Nada Despotovich, Chris Fowler, A.J. Lister, Doria Bramante, Christine Dye and Kevin Collins.

Luca Guadagnino doesn’t play softly as a filmmaker and, therefore, Guadagnino’s latest film, a tennis drama called Challengers, takes the love triangle movie genre and spins it on its head with one of the year’s most exciting story lines. That’s not to say there aren’t some confusing elements interwoven into the picture. There’s the occasional confusion of the movie’s time line which jumps back and forth to tell screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’s sizzling story and the frustration experienced by the main characters who seem to often forget that life has a pretty delicate set of rules. The characters in Challengers operate in life using a very interesting playbook and audiences will eventually love the results of the picture by the time it reaches its showy, bravo conclusion.

This film opens with a flash peek at the characters before the studio is revealed which hints at the style the movie will be wearing on its sleeve. Amidst all the showy name brand clothing the tennis players wear in Challengers is the sensitivity of the human heart, however, which knows no boundaries. Zendaya stars in the picture as a woman named Tashi who is very unique and, initially, quite talented as a tennis player. After an injury which occurs, though, Tashi is left out of the game, so to say. Her husband is Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) who, at one point participated in something of a threesome of a make-out session with Tashi and Patrick Zweig, another athlete played tremendously well by the versatile Josh O’Connor.

Tashi’s idea of self-satisfaction eventually involves sending her husband into a situation that would intimidate anyone–competing in a match with Patrick. Guadagnino builds tension through the structure of the film which shifts in time to different stages of Tashi’s life and Art’s career. Though Tashi has settled down with Art, there is a lot of unspoken romantic tension between Patrick and Tashi which you could cut with a knife, to say the least.

The shifts in time which have captions on the screen which inform the audience how far back in time the film is taking us is the least effective part of Challengers. This movie could have been told in a linear fashion with results which were probably just as good but Guadagnino isn’t interested in playing by the rules at all. This new movie is, artistically speaking, very experimental and takes huge risks which ultimately pay off in the last half hour which offers some of the most intense excitement you’ll see at the movies this year, simply through a tennis game. This tennis match is unlike any real match could ever be, though. It’s heightened for dramatic effect and done so to perfection. This is sports dramatics at their very best.

The sweat in the last tennis match scenes is so vivid you can feel it leak off the screen just as it drips from the characters at hand. Meanwhile the internal struggles of the two characters (Art and Patrick) facing off to maintain their sanity while the love of their lives (Tashi) watches in the audience is nothing short of brilliant. With a kick-ass score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers is one ride that has its speed bumps in terms of portraying its characters’ emotional depth but all of those bumps are part of the human condition as the characters feel betrayal, heartbreak and passion in ways that are nevertheless realistic and fascinating. When Tashi goes and spits in Patrick’s face at one point, the scene turns into a steamy and romantic one which will leave you guessing just how far the movie will go by the time it reaches its ambiguously complete ending.

The last tennis sequences are beyond awe-inspiring. All the tension in the story line is put into the match itself. These three characters involved in the love triangle keep their romantic feelings internalized at the end in some respects while the two men let out all their frustrations and passions in a way that will have audiences gasping for air. Patrick passes up the opportunity to serve the ball intentionally while Art slowly pieces together the puzzle of what is really going on.

Zendaya is solid in the film’s central female role which allows the actress to demonstrate a lot of character flaws which manifest themselves in the way she behaves throughout the movie. What is Tashi’s true intentions and what does she really intend to happen through the events of the movie if not what does actually happen? Tashi is the fuel that fires the romantic longing of Art and Patrick for her. Art and Patrick even ended up kissing themselves when they were making out with Tashi as younger characters. This is character development at its most risque.

Mike Faist is solid in the pivotal role of the loving husband with newfound professional ambitions but it is Josh O’Connor who is, perhaps, awards worthy as the other man who comes between Art and Tashi in more ways than one. O’Connor never ceases to amaze with his last moments in the movie particularly likely to leave audiences wanting more, yet still feeling immensely satisfied. It’s everything going on besides Patrick’s physical decisions in the game that keep the audience invested and we watch what Patrick does in the match with gleeful zest.

What is the right conclusion for the love story of Challengers to ultimately reach? I doubt Guadagnino cares. The director is more interested in provoking emotions from the viewer and frustrations from the film’s audiences as well. I loved that fact about the picture. While Challengers has a lot of perfect scenes, it probably suffers a tad bit because of its non-linear structure but by the time the movie reaches its exhilarating conclusion, you’ll be on the edge of your seat, for sure. Tennis never felt so intense on-screen before and Challengers has to be seen (and heard thanks to that compelling musical score) to be appreciated.

Rating: 8/10

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