Directed by Luca Guadagnino, who famously directed Call Me By Your Name, Challengers is a movie about a U.S Open tennis match between two old friends who both have a connection to coach and former tennis star, Tashi Donaldson, and everything leading up to the match, which is shown through flashbacks.
I’ll start off by talking about this film’s acting, which is insanely strong. Zendaya (Tashi Donaldson) gives an amazingly fun performance that perfectly captures the confidence and power of her character, while also being great in comedic moments. Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist as the two tennis stars in love with Zendaya both give wonderful performances. O’Connor plays the cockiness of his character very well and Faist excels playing the insecurities of his, while both also being amazing in comedic moments. All the actors also succeed at making their characters lovable, despite all their flaws, and the chemistry between the three is incredible. Many years are covered in this movie, and the three performances all play the character’s different ages very well, with all the naivety and confidence that comes with being younger and the wisdom and harshness that comes with being older.
The film showing the characters at very different ages is improved by how great the makeup and hairstyling was. The different ages of the three characters all looked so natural and I could truly believe they were that age. This movie has an electrifying electronic score composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that would probably feel overbearing if it was utilized more, but it is sparingly used and the moments they do choose to play it, it fits pretty perfectly . I haven’t stopped listening to Challengers’s score since I saw it.
Challengers has one of the campiest and most unique screenplays I have seen in a long time. It had such a unique vision for a movie that started with the screenplay, written by Justin Kuritzkes (this was his screenplay debut as well, which is insane) and is carried out through every element. The character writing is fantastic, crafting three memorable characters that I miss already. The screenplay walks the line between goofiness and serious drama so impressively. There is a lot of great reincorporation in this movie, there was one example near the end specifically that I really loved. The dynamics between the characters are a joy to watch, while also containing real and palpable tension. The way it shows how emotion would affect one’s action in real life and in a game, such as tennis, and how it explores relationships through tennis, one of the most intimate sports as it is usually played in pairs of two, is very captivating. The film shows how you may just watch a tennis match and not think much of it outside of the game being played, but in reality so much was building up to that within the players. It is a funny script overall, with several standout hilarious moments. It ends in a way that perfectly suits the characters and their motivations that had been built up over the film’s entire runtime.
This film is a masterclass in directing, which is complemented so well by the fast paced editing, which was also an amazing fit for the screenplay. Every scene of this movie is directed with the sensationalized energy that it deserves, but the tennis scenes are what truly blew me away, as they are infused with so much creativity, intensity, and emotion, and are a truly stunning use of visual storytelling. The film culminates in a tennis match, which is teased from the very start, that is a truly spectacular achievement in directing.
Challengers is a unique and exciting experience that tells such an enjoyable story with terrific acting and amazing directing. Everything truly comes together perfectly in this film, and I was fully engaged the entire time, loving every second of it. As the credits rolled, I felt pure exhilaration, a feeling that very few movies have given me. I’m very excited for Gaudagnino and Kuritzkes’s next movie coming out later this year, Queer starring Daniel Craig.
Plus the poster is one of the best movie posters we’ve gotten in a while.
