Luca Guadagnino is a director that never goes for the ordinary (read: “safe”)
choice. This applies to both his approach to storytelling and the technical craft
behind his films, which makes him one of the most fascinating directors to
watch in our current landscape where original, non-franchise major theatrical
films are few and far between. His movies don’t move like everything else, they
don’t look like everything else, and they’re rarely what you’re expecting them to
be. Guadagnino’s latest film, Challengers, is no exception to any of these
qualities- and may in fact be his most layered project to date.
The trailers would suggest this film is an erotic sports romance, and that’s
an accurate summary of the film’s actual plot only from a bird’s-eye view. Mike
Faist and Josh O’Connor star as cocky junior doubles US Open champions who
are each going after the same girl- Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a tennis superstar
whose career is cut short by an injury, leading to each of the boys competing for
her attention as a coach and a potential girlfriend. But what this film offers in its
careful positioning and deconstruction of these three characters is far more
complicated than a simple love triangle, and refuses to be categorized into a
single genre.
What Guadagnino has done here is rewrite the DNA of a sports film into
something more akin to a psychological romance/thriller. It isn’t paced at all like
a traditional sports flick, but- fascinatingly- it’s not not about tennis, either. It
intertwines the relationships between these three characters with their own
relationships with tennis, and suggests that their connection to the sport colors
their connections with people- especially each other. Zendaya’s fiery and biting
performance as Tashi Duncan reveals an athlete still reeling from having her
sport taken from her too soon, and her shallow, occasionally self-destructive
behavior with Faist and O’Connor manifests as a sort of identity crisis- when
you’ve been a champion your whole life, what do you do when the world stops
asking you to be one?
It’s this careful analysis of how the competitive lifestyle can become a
parasite to one’s own identity, portrayed in the masterfully-written arguments
between these characters (that feel more explosive than some actual action
scenes) that made this a deeply fascinating watch that I suspect only becomes
more interesting and layered with every rewatch. And the filmmaking craft on
display here is so wonderfully creative and different than anything else in
theaters right now, it truly feels like it’s operating entirely in its own league.
Choices like the camera becoming the ball during a pivotal match, the earworm-
inducing synth score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ramping in during every
tense argument, the hard cuts between three different timelines that all
somehow come together coherently, the final match playing out almost entirely
in slow motion- no one but Guadagnino and the immensely talented people
working with him would make these kinds of creative decisions in a film like this,
and it pays off beautifully.
Challengers isn’t a sports movie, and it’s not an erotic romance- but it’s got
elements of both of those genres in spades. This film is something more elusive
and unique. It treats its audience with an immense amount of respect and invites
multiple viewings, if only to further unravel its extremely layered characters. With
incredible performances, slick editing, a pulse-pounding score, and a fantastic
script to boot, Challengers is undoubtedly one of the best features of 2024 and
should not be missed.
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