Released 2024. Director: Luca Guadagnino
YOU DON'T NEED TO LIKE TENNIS to get drawn into the court action of powerful forehands and lightning aces in Challengers. Set in the world of professional tennis, this movie is about two best mates and a girl who came between them. Less about the sport itself, more about the lust, possessiveness and manipulation in this intense trinity. You could say they turn tennis into a full contact sport.
Art Donaldson and Patrick Zweig have been close friends for years since they shared a dorm room at age 12. Partners on the court, the boys are junior doubles winners at the US Open. At the same tournament they lay eyes on Tashi Duncan, a prodigy destined for a blitzing career in the major league. The boys are fascinated by and attracted to Tashi not just as a rising star in the sports but as they both reckon, “the hottest girl”. Their loins are awakened and stirred by this powerful female compatriot, who they probably subconsciously equate as the embodiment of the two of them. Tashi, at once more perceptive and adept at human psychology, effortlessly toys with the pair of hormonally charged 18-year-olds.
Their love triangle morphs seamlessly and dangerously to a threesome and back. The besties are tested by their shared ardour for Tashi. From equal partners on the court they become jealous competitors off the court.
The movie starts at a Challengers tournament in 2019 where Art, now a world-class player dropping in as a wild-card entry, meets unranked wash-out Patrick in the final for the match that not only reminds them who they used to be, but what’s to become of them. With history bearing down on the two men, their match serves as a narrative framing device taking us back 13 years in the rise and fall of their professional and personal lives.
In flashback we see Patrick, more charming and playful than Art, win over Tashi but their relationship sours spectacularly just before a match. When Tashi suffers an injury snuffing her dream as a professional player, Art slides in to fill the space vacated by his best friend. Some years later, as a relentless coach, manager and later, wife, Tashi steers Art into the top tier of the tennis hierarchy while Patrick, broke and languishing in the lower circuits, struggles to break out. With the three coming face to face again in a competitive arena, the unresolved loose ends of a once-glorious friendship and lingering antagonism beg to be settled.
Like the performances of its three leads: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, Challengers is youthful and vibrant. The movie pulses with energy, as if ignited by the characters’ ambition, optimism and the occasional callousness. Racket hitting a ball has never been so stylishly shot with digitally enhanced razzmatazz. Blend this with the thumping score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with an 80s electro-dance vibe and you have an emotional, racket-smashing conflict with the energy of a strobing dance club. The script by Justin Kuritzkes misses nothing in its overlapping timelines, cleverly mingling the sweaty excitement on the court and the equally risqué nature of the provocative ménage-à-trois. Luca Guadagnino’s direction has freshness and vitality to spare, firmly focusing on character motivation and expertly turning tennis into an erotic gamesmanship.
The ties between Tashi, Art and Patrick are too tangled to be unravelled. There’s a voyeuristic frisson in watching the shift of dynamics when they’d arrive at a deuce, then one party has the advantage before the game flips again. Is this ultimately about control? Is Tashi manipulating Art for her own unfulfilled dream? Why are Patrick and Art so willing to fall under Tashi’s spell?
Keeping Tashi’s motivations and commitments opaque makes her almost a femme fatale. She says she’s not a home-wrecker but that’s exactly what she’s done to the boys. You might think she’s capitulating when she just about begs Patrick to let Art win in order to restore her husband’s confidence. But is she just using Patrick’s vulnerability to ensure she gets to the top by proxy? After all, Art is only a US Open victory away from a career grand slam. Why does she reject Patrick’s offer to leave Art and coach him only to have sex with him the next moment if she’s so outraged? It’s not about rational behaviour. It’s about making calculated moves to win the match. These three understand each other’s weaknesses. Someone has to win, and someone has to lose. After all, it’s a tournament.
Challengers is an engrossing spectator sport. It’s sweaty and messy, also sexy and ballsy all the way to the surprising win-win-win overhead smash.
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Where to watch "Challengers":
I'm not familiar w/ Luca Guadagnino’s work; the only one I've seen is A Bigger Splash. His films seem to always have overt sexual elements, not sure it's my jam. That said, I'm intrigued by the casting of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist (especially O'Connor who I think is a terrific actor). We'll see if I ever get around to watching this, though your review makes a good case that it's worth a watch.