"Challengers" - Ace.

Josh
Feb 24, 2025
6 min read

Updated: Mar 23, 2025

Luca Guadagnino (2024)

Will do to tennis, what Jaws did for the ocean, Psycho did for showers, Frozen didn’t do for ski lifts, Whiplash did for drumming and Black Swan did for ballet.

How often have you watched a movie that's so good and presents the main activity so well that has led to a hobby? Since I saw Whiplash (2014) I've wanted to play drums. And now it's 2025, I'm a novice drummer. So now I'm currently looking around for tennis lessons. Luca Guadagnino has become a powerhouse in relationships within cinema. And to see him take a screenplay written by The Famous Potion Seller, Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers uses the back-and-forth nature of tennis as a metaphor for the relationship between our three leads. Scoring-wise we watch them set up a serve to win the round with an advantage over their opponent, only to have the opposition power spin it back to take said advantage. While brilliantly using non-linear storytelling to reveal pieces of information in a way that builds upon one another. Details are shared and expanded upon, giving reason to character motivations transforming the context of one tennis match as each flashback is presented.

We open on Art (Mike Faist) who's having imposter syndrome at the professional level after losing numerous games in a row. His wife and coach, former young tennis prodigy Tashi (Zendaya), pushes him to play in the Challengers. A tournament of nobodies to help him get the groove back. And straight away you can feel the blurred line between wife and coach, as her sympathy towards her husband is outmatched by the coldness of a coach wanting him to win at all costs. Contrasting against the opening to our third lead, Patrick (Josh O'Connor), a slob sleeping in his car after not being able to afford a motel for the night. Although the contrasting duo seem worlds apart we cut to years earlier as we witness the two winning a doubles match, where they're known as “Fire and Ice”. Then the question of an ulterior motive from Tashi begins to float to the surface, was their match together a set-up or a happy accident?

Mike Faist, Zendaya, Josh O'Connor - Courtesy of MGM

Here is where the bouncing back and forth between timelines begins. The film will set up a point of conflict to then jump back to a certain point in time to show the catalyst for said conflict. The dynamic energy between Art and Patrick seemed impossible to break up during their younger years until you see how they both drawl over Tashi. Even aware of the speculative relationship between the duo she says she's not a home wrecker. Once invited to their room, we explore the deeper connection between Art and Patrick. And it wouldn't be a Luca Guadagnino movie if it didn't have some amount of queer undertones. Going beyond friends we learn how they've had a sexual experience with each other after Tashi asks if there was anything between them. Their friendship goes as far back as boarding school, with Patrick having introduced Art to masturbation, figuratively lending a hand as he had to explain how to do it. Even though Patrick is more open about it, Art stutters over his words, obviously embarrassed by the story showing signs of a suppressed connection. Amplified further when we get the threesome makeout scene (the famous scene that was plastered all over the marketing), as Tashi controls the triangle bouncing between them, she brings them together and watches them go at each other. She watches as she's moved them both into a position she wants. She watches with what can be described as an arousal for control. It's not until she says stop do they open their eyes to see who they've been swapping spit with when the question comes into play of who will win the next match to get her number. Beginning the trend of organising backend deals of who will win matches to bring life back into their opponent.

It's this triangle that is the heart of the movie, where tennis is used as a metaphor for sex. Heated conversations will begin and end with the phrase, "Are we still talking about tennis?" The two subject matters are so closely linked, that the score, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is shared both in the tennis matches and during conversations. This musical motif will creep in on queue during a conversation as one person will take the advantage over the other. As the boys battle each other you get implications of intimacy between the two as they groan and grunt hitting the ball back and forth.

And it's the question of what are they truly playing for. During their teenage years, Patrick lets Art know that he had slept with Tashi via mimicking a tic Art does before serving the ball. It comes into play during their match as an adult and while being a call back that is obvious during the moment, it doesn't stop it from being a satisfying conclusion to the match. Yet even at the end, as the boys finish the match it's their loving reunion that's the true victory, even seen by Tashi as she cheers for their embrace.

Zendaya, Josh O'Connor - Courtesy of MGM

The consistent bouncing back and forth in time never feels confusing or disorientating. Title cards are present for the flashbacks but it's really carried via the actor's performances. Everything from the character's speech, posture, and clothing choices had these adult actors seamlessly blend into young adults. Guadagnino even manages to use weather as a way to show the difference between the time jumps. It's these obvious visuals that help the story flow from one time skip to the next without anything feeling overly jarring. I think in the hands of another filmmaker how over the top each the reminder of each transition would be feeling like a hard full stop and then reset to the next scene. The only aspect that felt overlooked was the parenthood aspect of their adult years. I get that isn't the focus on the film yet I found it hard to get passed the baby-faced Zendaya as a mother.

And like the intense drumming scenes in Whiplash, the games of tennis are both enthralling and creative in its presentation. The first few matches we see are presented in a way as if you were watching it on TV. Static and flat. As the stakes rise and the revaluation of what the match is really about picks up, the set pieces are so creative that it amazes me that other sport-based movies have never attempted to express the action in interesting ways. To spoil everything, we get shots that are underneath the court. Rather simple. Then we get a POV shot from the players, but not in a way where you can tell that they just strapped a GoPro to the actors. It was so clean with the sound of the shoe screeches and hits as to really put you in that head space. And the shot that is still in my head, and I'm in awe that they pulled it off to the point I want to hunt down behind the scenes to see how they did it. We get a POV of the tennis ball. And while we've had POV of objects in other movies what stood out here was the realism it took without feeling disoriented. The ball spins, skims, and glides, yet you know exactly where you are at any point.

For a first-time feature-length screenplay, Kuritzkes feels like an expert with layered dialogue. As you can pull different meanings from a second re-watch with known information, it's a testament to the writing when people sitting around are the most intense sections of the movie. Yet the action scenes are elevated through creative presentation that makes this movie stand out amongst its peers. It's a modern take on the erotic thriller and by new take I mean there is very little eroticism in it, rather it's all implied. None-the-less, well worth the watch, especially if you want to spark up a new hobby and potentially pick up some tennis lessons.