Review: Challengers – Match made in heaven

Directed by Luca Guadagnino,
Starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor

7/10

For a sports film about the athleticism of young men and women, this may be Luca Guadagnino’s sexiest film, even sexier than Call Me By Your Name. There’s a tension between two men competing for one woman’s love, and they compete by squaring off in what may be the most exciting tennis match ever in a film.

Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is a trainer and wife to Art (Mike Faist), whose successful tennis career is on the decline due to a losing streak. She suggests he enter a Challengers tournament, which would be an easy win for him. But Patrick (Josh O’Connor) is there, as soon explained in the lengthy flashbacks, as the ex-tennis partner of Art and the ex-romantic partner of Tashi.

As they square off in the final match of the tournament, we leap back and forth from the present and past. We see how the two really fall for Tashi because, well, she’s pretty, and the fight they have over her love. This nonlinear structure can feel rather neck-breaking with the number of times it goes back and forth, and you wonder if the film would benefit from having its story told linearly rather than leaping between the past and present like a tennis ball on the court.

Some of the film’s better moments come earlier on, particularly the very poor Patrick and his woes about living out of his car, which contrast well with Art’s lavish living. Not much more is done with this contrast which is unfortunate as it would have made them more dynamic adversaries.

This is a very sensual and bodily film. It has an interest in the fit bodies of its characters, mostly the men, even featuring some locker room full-frontal nudity. Right from the very first shot, we get a sense that the lens is fixated on the bodies, as well as the sweat emanating from them, making Challengers not only sexier but more aware of the physicality it takes to achieve this kind of sportsmanship.

Directed with gusto by Guadagnino, he conveys a very dynamic shooting and editing style that makes the tennis scenes constantly refreshing and exciting to watch (intensified by an electrifying music score from Trent Reznor and Attitcus Ross). But as the film comes to its climax, it starts to feel more and more over-directed, with Guadagnino employing too many different types of shots just for the hell of it (with POV shots from the players AND the ball).

And although there’s tension to be had in this scene when both players taunt and test each other in the game’s final serves, the endless slo-mo becomes excruciating and lessens the tension rather than heightens it. Ultimately, it all leads to an ending that at first feels sudden and confounding but becomes more and more satisfying and perfect the more you think about it.

DAVID MORGAN-BROWN