I’ll admit, I’ve been looking forward to Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers long before I was able to see it in an empty theater in Tennessee while on a much-deserved vacation away. In fact, hearing that Guadagnino would be helming an original story centered around tennis and starring Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor really appealed to me. So needless to say I was gutted when the film was delayed in 2023 due to the actor’s and writer’s strikes. But, having seen the film now, I can finally say it was worth the wait and the price of admission.
Challengers follows the three-headed story of Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), three young tennis stars seemingly at the top of the world. When the three meet at a Nike-sponsored event during the junior US Open, it starts a whirlwind love triangle between the three. As we jump back and forth through time, we see their relationships develop, friends turn to foes and intense fires burn on the tennis court and in the romantic lives of the trio.
It can’t be understated how much Guadagnino has mastered the art of romance in his films. From Best Picture Nominee Call Me By Your Name to 2022’s cannibal love story Bones and All to Challengers now, that fact cannot be denied. Here, he dials the sexiness up to eleven. While there’s no explicit nudity, Guadagnino uses sex and tennis to ignite a sultry fire that stays hot through the entire film’s runtime. Couple that with an incredible debut film script from Justin Kuritzkes and it seems to be a match made in tennis heaven. Kuritzkes, an established playwright, developed the script after diving into the history of Arthur Ashe Stadium while researching his grandfather and came upon a match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka in 2019.
Where the obvious focus of Challengers lies, however, is in the trio of main actors as we weave through parts of their lives together. In each their own way, Faist, O’Connor and Zendaya give monumental performances that light up the screen. Each actor brings a unique flair to their character that just works. Zendaya credited a lot of this to Guadagnino’s ability to pull emotion and nuance from actors in creative ways. But I don’t think anyone could have captured Tashi Duncan’s whole persona better than Zendaya. I’ve also especially been a big fan of Mike Faist’s work, so I’m incredibly happy to see him thrive in leading roles. I cannot wait to see his growth beyond this and 2024’s The Bikeriders.
From a technical standpoint, there’s a lot to love about the film. The hair and makeup, particularly with Zendaya’s Duncan, is great. You can see how much the characters grow and change (or don’t grow/change) as time passes through their hairstyles and clothing.
I also loved the visuals from cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. This is a type of movie that’s really easy to just play it safe, but Mukdeeprom took risks visually that paid off. The tennis sequences in particular are incredible, with some real unique shots.
Yet the film continued to run longer than it should have. The pacing feels fine, but it just feels like there’s too many back-and-forth time jumps in Challengers than entirely necessary. It gets convoluted very quickly, in a blink and you’ll miss it type of way. I did love how often the film cuts back to the present-day match between Art and Patrick. But there were just too many for the film’s own good.
I may also be in the minority, but I really didn’t enjoy the booming techno score that overlayed the film. Especially in important scenes, it just felt laughably out of place in comparison to a traditional score. I appreciate the uniqueness they were trying to go for. But for me, it just really didn’t work.
Final Thoughts
Challengers is really great. There’s so much to love, from engaging, practical visuals to outstanding performances. It’s surely a film that will stand out come year’s end for me. I cannot wait to see the continued growth of the film’s three lead actors. This was as much their coming-of-age film as it was their characters. It’s really worth the price of admission at the box office, and if you like tennis, then doubly so.
