Review | No faults here in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’
Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor star in Luca Guadagnino’s newest romantic film - the sexiest piece of cinema to come out in recent years. Even if you know nothing about tennis, Guadagnino will have you so immersed in the sport that you feel like you are one of the players. Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, Staff Photographer
Spoiler alert: This article contains minor spoilers for “Challengers.”
There is not one sex scene in “Challengers,” yet it is the sexiest romance film to grace our screens in a long time.
Izzy Betz, Features & Entertainment Staff Writer
"Challengers" has been a long time coming. The film's original release date was Sept. 15, 2023, but the actors’ and writers' strike caused the studios to push the date back. The internet has been going feral over the cast in the past few weeks of their press tour. The red carpet looks, the giggles during cast interviews and the gorgeous photoshoots have led everyone to predict this could be the best film of the year — and maybe they were right.
Former tennis player-turned-coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) has turned her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), into a world-famous tennis champion. To shake his nerves and break his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a “Challenger” event — a low-level professional tournament. He makes it to the finale and finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor).
Luca Guadagnino can't make a bad movie. It’s not in his blood. His most well-known film, “Call Me By Your Name,” took the world by storm in 2017 and catapulted Timothée Chalamet into fame. His 2018 horror remake of “Suspiria” and recent cannibal romance “Bones and All” were monumental moments in film for cinephiles. While his projects are so distinct, they are always a Guadagnino film, characterized by complex and intimate character relationships, eroticism and gorgeous visuals.
This soundtrack is crack — so addictive that I am blasting it in my ears as I write this article. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are the composing brains behind projects like “The Social Network,” “Waves,” “Soul” and now "Challengers." The pair is also working on Guadagnino’s upcoming film “Queer” starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey — which I have no doubt will be a banger soundtrack.
Their techno-pop score is electric. On one hand, it will send chills up your spine and have you curling up into the size of a tennis ball. On the other hand, you will be moving around in your seat like you are a player in the middle of a world championship tennis match.
Does anyone remember The Potion Seller meme video? Well, the boy who created that video, Justin Kuritzkes, is the writer of "Challengers." His script caught the eye of producers Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor. You may also know him as the husband of Celine Song, writer of last year’s heartbreaking film “Past Lives.” Do you see what I see? A married couple who both wrote extremely successful feature films circling a love triangle — and they both do it masterfully.
While his script’s opening page may go against everything a screenwriting teacher holds dear, Kuritzkes’s script is a masterclass in tension, chemistry and subtext when writing.
Zendaya is a star. This isn’t news to anyone — her performance in “Dune: Part Two” was a fan favorite. In "Challengers," Zendaya finally gets her time to shine on the big screen and glows brighter than ever. It's a surprising fact that this is her first time leading a feature film because she absolutely commands the screen like she was born to play Tashi. We knew that she could carry a project coming off of two seasons of “Euphoria,” but how she hasn’t been cast in a leading role that won her an Oscar for Best Actress yet is completely beyond me.
I was not familiar with O’Connor’s game prior to "Challengers." He won an Emmy Award for his performance in “The Crown” as Young Charles, Prince of Wales. The project I was familiar with was a filmed National Theater stage production of “Romeo & Juliet,” with him in the titular role. I regret all the choices I made to not watch O’Connor’s films up to this moment because his acting is magnetic. You want to hate Patrick, but it’s nearly impossible to tear your eyes away from him.
The theater girls were trying to gatekeep Faist for as long as possible. That plan has failed. Guadagnino has brought him to the world stage, and I can’t say I’m mad. From Faist’s origins on Broadway in “Newsies” and “Dear Evan Hansen” to his supporting role as Riff in Steven Spielberg's “West Side Story,” I was expecting the world to keep the “theater kid” label on him forever. So, thank you to Guadagnino because Faist’s portrayal of Art is art. No one could have played the part better.
If you look up a definition of chemistry in a dictionary, Faist and O’Connor will appear. In the footnotes, there will be a photo of them playing in the Phil’s Tire Town Challenger in New Rochelle. Guadagnino takes good care of his “little white boys,” as Tashi likes to call them.
I don’t care if you are a tennis player and didn’t like the technicality of the tennis scenes. As someone who has never watched a full game of tennis, I thought the scenes were choreographed and shot to perfection — and the people posting stills and GIFs on X (formerly Twitter) agree. The cinematography of the actual tennis matches was some of Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s best work.
Love is a game. No one in Hollywood understands that more than Guadagnino, Kuritzkes and the trio of actors who brought the movie to life. The line between Tashi, Art and Patrick's romantic relationship and their relationship with tennis becomes blurred as the film goes on. It deserves multiple rewatches to see the story from each character's perspective. The real debate is about which character’s side you are on. I don’t think a choice can be made after only one watch, and I don’t mind seeing this film a few more times to decide.
I know nothing about tennis. I still can’t tell you what “love” means in a game. What I can tell you is that I absolutely loved "Challengers" like nothing else I have watched this year.
