Challengers (2023)

Challengers review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Challengers is not exactly a film about tennis or even about sex. It’s more of an erotic thriller on the nature of power dynamics. In one of the most erotic moments of the film, a flirting Zendaya coaxes Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist to start making out with her. What starts as a threesome make-out session diverts into O’Connor and Faist making out with each other as Zendaya sits back and watches the passion unfold. She soon leaves, having already gotten what she wanted: manipulating two tennis players clearly into each other to play as hard as they smooch.

The film is a brilliant tease in how it frames the desires of its characters within this tangled love triangle. Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is all about tennis as a rising star in the sport. As she relays, her matches are not so much a competition as they are a relationship. That’s a notion that the tennis duo Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) can understand, given how they first view her performance on the court. She gets so into the match that she becomes as aggressive as a lover trying to spice things up in bed, roaring as she wins and demanding more fire from her opponent. To Patrick and Art, this is highly erotic and is viewed by them more like a sexual act they want in on. Their attraction, however, may be their undoing.

Darting between the aspiring days of college tennis and the bleak future for athletes in their twilight years, there’s great tension in the goals of these three players. It becomes clear that Patrick and Art are very much into each other, made clear when they admit during a drunken hangout with Tashi that they jerked off together as childhood friends. Even when lusting after the same woman, these two are so into each other it’s almost maddening that they’re not honest with their feelings. Just watch how hot and heavy things get when they playfully discuss their game while eating churros in a rather steamy manner.

It’s a vibe that Tashi can’t deny and she tries not to be a homewrecker. Ultimately, Tashi just wants them to play harder as a tennis players considering that’s her kink. With her body being seen as a prize, she taunts them both with the possibility of winning her heart. To her, this is just a playful carrot. Of course, as they grow older, things get complicated and vicious.

Director Luca Guadagnino keeps the blood flowing through this enticing ballet of tennis and sex. The camera stays firm and holds on to all the action and tension when someone is making out. When the tennis games start, there are various shots and camera movements, ranging from all-encompassing long shots to close-ups revealing all the sweat and muscle to a POV of the tennis players and ball. Placed over all these scenes is an almost deafeningly defining soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, bringing their A-game to this film. The driving electronic music makes the sports matches intense, and the sexual allure bubbles in most exchanges, as in the sauna scene between Patrick and Art, where it almost feels like the soundtrack is trying to stress, “KISS ALREADY, YOU FOOLS!”

Challengers may be Guadagnino’s best film, considering how all of it plays out with incredible attractiveness. The nonlinear storytelling keeps the film engaging, and the staging of the characters is so brilliant that you can read them easily. The drama is highly provocative and vicious, and my audience treated every savage insult and declaration from Tashi like a mean spike in a tennis match. A constant push can be felt throughout the film of wanting to do more and get closer to that moment of passion paying off with astonishing brilliance. Guadagnino certainly achieves that level of masterful filmmaking, crafting a picture with stirring drama, sexy allure, and even a natural level of comedy.