Luca Guadagnino, the director of 2018’s “Call Me By Your Name” and 2022’s “Bones and All”, returns with a gripping drama that will have you glued to the screen.
“Challengers” follows Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’Connor), and Art (Mike Faist) during their college years and adult lives as they traverse their tumultuous relationships between each other and with the game of tennis. After Art is forced to join a challengers tournament to end his losing streak his past, along with Tashi’s and Patrick’s all come back and tensions start to run high.
There are really only three characters in this movie and each of them are performed expertly by the leads. The writing allows their performances to feel like real people traversing life. Zendaya is amazing and with this and Dune Part 2 under her belt this year I would be surprised if she doesn’t walk away with at least one Oscar this awards season. Even with Zendaya’s masterful performance, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor are the standouts in the movie. The actors both have such amazing chemistry with each other that all of their interactions feel real and emotional.
The acting is amazing, each actor’s ability to create sexual tension in each scene is absolutely insane because it persists throughout the whole movie between all three characters, but it is particularly strongly felt between Art and Patrick. Being a Luca Guadagnino movie, that kind of tension definitely comes with some racy material throughout the movie, but it isn’t ever super graphic.
The movie is less a sports drama and more a character drama. Tennis is prevalent throughout the movie, but it is used more as a vehicle for the story rather than a focus. It’s kind of melodramatic at some points and has Guadagnino’s style of editing so it sometimes feels like a soap opera. Yet, the drama is still on point.
There are a ton of incredibly creative shots in the movie that are just absolutely spectacular to watch. In one scene the camera is the tennis ball, which I don’t think has ever been done in a live action movie. Along with plenty of other scenes that will immediately draw your attention. The framing is the typical Luca Guadagnino composition, which is always great. The tennis matches are by far the most gripping part of the movie, the focus in many of the shots during the tennis matches leaves you at the edge of your seat in anticipation.
The ups and downs of these three characters’ lives are exciting, gripping, and sometimes frustrating, but through it all is a spectacularly made drama. If you have a need to watch some expertly directed drama or are a fan of Luca Guadagnino I couldn’t recommend this enough.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist
Rated R
Runtime: 131 minutes
My Rating: ★★★★★
