Challengers preview screening provided by Universal Pictures
Challengers feels like both a breath of fresh air for sports movies and a film struggling to find air, mainly because it’s less about the act of winning and more about savouring the build up to a point, soaking in the tension, and when Luca Guadagnino is the director, pushing the boundaries of continuous edging that only free spirited, experimental youths seem to bring. Make no mistake, tennis is the lens through which we untangle Guadagnino’s webs and fascination with youths being unorthodox, but this is by no means a sports rags-to-riches story like King Richard (2021) or a light-hearted underdog tale like Next Goal Wins (2023).
It follows two up-and-coming tennis prodigies, childhood friends Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), and an established youth pro, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya). Things get a little complicated for this trio who meet long before Art becomes a touring pro and Tashi, his coach and wife. In fact, Guadagnino’s film takes many turns, often dovetailing from one moment in time to another, with Marco Costa’s editing giving the film this back-and-forth rally like quality, sometimes a bit too excessively but enough to keep you on your toes.
We open in the present, where Art’s game isn’t as great as it once was and Tashi signs him up for a challenger event in New Rochelle to find some flair before the US Open. Unbeknownst to Art, Patrick, now his former friend, will also be competing. It’s from here that Guadagnino cuts between the present and the past, sometimes for a matter of days, other times for years. It becomes clear that there’s some unresolved history between the trio who first met 12 years ago at a juniors tournament where they hit it off both on and off the court.
Guadagnino, an expert at extrapolating meaning from odd situations, uses Tashi as a catalyst for carnage, or to put it in her own words, a “homewrecker”. From early stages, her motivations aren’t entirely clear in terms of her fascination with the duo —there’s a steamy scene where the trio lock lips before Tashi pulls back and leaves Art and Patrick still going at it before she admires her work and ducks out— but she’s clearly the focal point that pushes the narrative forward. And that’s largerly because Zendaya does a great job at conveying this larger than life presence, mainly since that’s how she’s perceived in pop culture more broadly. Guadagnino is able to tap into that to a greater degree, working with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom to box her into the frame through tight close-ups and really portray her as a figure of authority who has a grip on Art and Patrick that can’t be shaken off.
The enjoyment of the film comes from the tension that is bubbling beneath the surface, after all this is a story about competing and winning no matter the cost. That’s at least the mentality that Tashi has instilled into both Art and Patrick who, no matter their rankings in the wider sense, constantly seem to be tussling with one another. At the same time, this tussle seems to be less about proving anything to themselves and more about proving something to Tashi.
Ultimately, tennis provides the perfect platform for Guadagnino to pivot such ideas against one another, with the underlying horniness of it all working to give the film a unique edge —especially when paired with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ pulsating techno score which further breathes life in any given moment. Whether or not this is the sort of film you’ll walk away from and continue to ponder isn’t clear, especially with an ending that doesn’t exactly prod you to ask any more questions but almost leaves you wanting more answers in the same unfulfilled way the trio have been all movie.
Challengers opens nationally from the 18th of April, 2024.
Rating Frames 