“Challengers” (2024)

Challengers

Grade: B

Stylish yet somewhat lacking in emotional substance, Challengers is director Luca Guadignino’s horny take on the sports drama. For better or worse, he teases the viewers at every turn with striking visuals manufactured to hold our attention. Along with the fine cast, the artful aesthetic is enough to elevate the vapid story into something entertaining.

Directing:

As Luca Guadignino is wont to do, bodies — hot, sweaty, sexy, pro athlete bodies — are the center of the camera’s attention in Challengers. If nothing else, the film offers plenty of erotic eye-candy that caters to both the male and female gaze. Voyeuristic in all the right (or wrong) ways, Guadagnino’s style is playful, treating everything in Challengers — including the characters themselves — like a game between filmmaker and filmwatcher, a provocateur who has constructed a cruel, cinematic morality play and delights in making us squirm. Hitchcock, Italian style.

But if you’re just here for the tennis, then you might be a little disappointed. This is a Guadagnino movie first, sports drama second, and even though the tennis sequences are well-done, realism is sacrificed for eroticism. The sports scenes are highly stylized, with throbbing, slow-motion close-ups to edge the audience into submission. Depending on what you want out of Challengers, that can either be a good thing or a bad thing, but there’s one thing that’s for certain: Guadagnino’s talent shows up (or shows off) in every frame.

Acting:

Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan (not to be confused with Chani — or Duncan Idaho, for that matter — from Dune), a former tennis phenom who suffered a career-ending injury and now coaches her insecure husband, Art (played by Mike Faist), and still occasionally fucks her unruly ex-boyfriend, Patrick (played by Josh O’Connor).

All three main actors pull off the love triangle successfully, simply because all three characters are dislikable enough for us to not question their bad decisions. All they have to do is look hot and be good at tennis. Kudos to Zendaya, Faist and O’Connor for making it so easy: they are believable ATP assholes . . . er . . . athletes.

Writing:

The storyline of Challengers is very simple: former best friends Art and Patrick face off in a finals match, essentially playing for Tashi’s love. There’s not much else to it — Guadagnino has deliberately made a superficial movie. To add some semblance of narrative intrigue for us viewers, Justin Kuritzkes’ screenplay goes back and forth in time, showing us the backstory out of order, which is much needed to keep suspense. If Challengers was told linearly, the film’s shallowness would be obvious and the calculated set-up would fail to hit the predetermined targets. It only works one way.

Music:

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross serve up an unceasing techno score that never stops moving, adding a kinetic energy to Challengers that keeps the tension pulsing at all times. Despite a few Pink Floyd rip-offs (Dark Side of the Moon‘s “On the Run” seems to be a frequent touchstone), this is a good soundtrack that can stand on its own outside the context of the film. Perfect for the detached aesthetic that Guadagnino wants to employ. Reznor & Ross always deliver.

Ending (SPOILERS):

The events leading to Art and Patrick’s final set have been building for years . . . and that’s exactly how long the match-point seems to take. Guadagnino abandons realism altogether and opts for a highly stylized approach consisting of super slo-mo and under-the-court “glass box” angles. Sure, it’s visually impressive, but it’s frustratingly tedious as a sports fan. Serve the damn ball!

Yet that’s Guadagnino’s intent — tennis as metaphor for human sexuality. And so the match ends with Art and Patrick colliding midair at the net while Tashi lets out a primal scream from the stands. Because the film’s most interesting aspects were the accoutrements (e.g., non-linear narrative, flashy directing, throbbing soundtrack) rather than the characterizations, it’s hard to empathize with their collective climax. This movie will give you blue balls.

“I’d let her fuck me with a racket.” — Patrick Zweig

Why Challengers gets a B

If you want a better tennis movie, try Green’s King Richard (2021). If you want a better threesome movie, try Cuarón’s Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001). If you want a better Guadagnino movie, try Call Me By Your Name (2017). Talented director and actors trapped in a manufactured story, like Affleck’s Air (2023).

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