Review
Challengers (Romance, Sports, Drama) (2024)
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Justin Kuritzkes
Stars: Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Zendaya, A.J. Lister
Emotional strain emerges within the marriage of a former tennis prodigy and a professional player. A run of losses makes him resort to joining a lower-tier tournament; a reunion with a former friend feeds uncertainty and threatens to unsettle an already fragile bond.
Inspired by the sport and a recent match at the U.S. Open, Justin Kuritzkes wrote a script that explores tennis, while personal relationships discover their depth. The idea around ‘’Challengers’’ later took shape under Luca Guadagnino’s direction. Filming took place around Boston, where casting was also conducted for extras, stand-ins and other minor roles. Zendaya, Faist, and O’Connor were trained by former tennis player — now coach — Brad Gilbert. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Why Are You Acting Productions, Frenesy Film Company and Pascal Pictures while being distributed by Amazon MGM Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures.
During their junior careers at the U.S. Open, doubles partners Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) become fixated on rising star Tashi Duncan. Infatuated with both her talent and presence, they compete for her attention, setting in motion a romantic triangle. While dating Patrick, their strained relationship comes to an abrupt end following an ACL tear that ends Tashi’s career, with Art remaining close in the aftermath. Art later marries Tashi in a wife-and-coach partnership, emerging as quite the power couple. When his career begins to falter, they attempt to reignite his momentum by dropping into Challenger events, only to bump into former friend Patrick, who resurfaces unresolved friction from their past.
Approaching a different angle within sports features, Kuritzkes and Guadagnino frame the feature as a romantic drama shaped around a non-linear narrative. Rather than competition alone, the lens exposes a much more distinct relationship drama, centred on the shifting dynamics between three central characters. It functions as a fictional spin within a familiar genre, distinguishing itself from recent tennis-oriented features through its emphasis on intimacy and power.
Together, Faist’s Art and Zendaya’s Tashi initially are pictured as an idealised po
wer couple, a positive dynamic the audience is encouraged to accept. Through flashbacks, we reframe those visuals, highlighting specific phases of the past and present, granting clarity to character definition — O’Connor’s Patrick is brash, temperamental, while Art internalises, reserved yet calculating; tying them together is Tashi, positioned between ambition and control. Perspective shifts gradually, and the vastly different structures within this love triangle provide a precarious balance. The alignment proves purely provisional, a shallow life only breathing because of the sport. Once these moments are clarified, the realisation comes in: interest and attraction are two sides of the same coin in Tashi’s life, blooming in competition, tennis functioning as a surface, not a subject.
Driven by intent and infatuation, the focus becomes intensity, binding the characters more securely than intimacy ever could.
Outside of the lines of this rectangular court, lives are shaped and ‘’Challengers’’ holds much emphasis in front and behind the net. As it opens, we see our axis in Zendaya following the ball, right in the midst of two men, which symbolises the whole film. It’s easy to observe Guadagnino’s feature as an erotic drama, yet in practice it proves to be much more; yes — relationship drama is at the forefront and provides a core. Sensual scenes serve as a teaser, transforming the eventual conclusion into an effective climax in the non-traditional sense. Moments in between, through both dialogue and action, are tied into a web of performance. Without the sport in question, the love triangle would be absent, this hard surface provides the foundation, more important than just a setting. Ambiguity in morals is held close to the chest; it resists any evidently clear emotion. The audience is never explicitly told what to think or where to stand. Still, it is possible to read behaviour, glances, and decisions without crystal confirmation. Tension continues into subsequent scenes, despite the refusal to present character motivation as a clearly framed picture.
Within the genre, there are many approaches: comebacks, coach-oriented and analytical drama-based features. ‘’Challengers’’ proves different, while being about two tennis players, it subjects the viewer to a broader perspective of relationships and the manner in which life contorts traditional views of morality, ambition, and desire. From light moments to solitary sentences, most parts are skilfully revisited and keenly wrapped into an artful package. An intelligent drama, formed around an idea within the sport itself, it allows neither of the prime subjects to become overbearing while still building tension enough to provide a substantial denouement within a single match.
Verdict
A Challenging Perspective.
9,0
