Challengers – A Winning Romantic Drama

A casualty of the writers and actors strikes that shuffled much of the back half of 2023, Challengers moved from an early September release date to now a late April 2024 release. Fronted by a some of the best young actors working today in Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, the film looked to bank on the star power of the three. Zendaya’s exploits go without saying as Mike Faist, coming off a breakthrough performance in 2021’s West Side Story, and Josh O’Connor, one of the most underrated actors working today, have only risen since then. While the prospects of the three working together on screen in any capacity is enough reason for anticipation, tennis is merely the backdrop of a film brimming with sexual tension and an edge that saw its titular three at the top of their games. Director Luca Guadagnino knows how to press the right buttons, creating a feast for the eyes and senses that may not be perfect, but it comes very close. Accentuating that feast for the senses, is a booming score from the always reliable pairing of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. In the end, the MVP of this complicated love triangle is easily Zendaya, who is once again an absolute force throughout. That being said, the one thing it is missing is a touch more character development to better solidify the film’s central trio.

Challengers is centered around the complicated decade plus long relationship between a trio of tennis players. Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) was billed as the next big tennis prodigy whose promising career was cut short after an unfortunate injury. An unapologetic player on the tennis court, she was much of the same as a coach after her injury. Art Donaldson (Faist) and Patrick Zweig (O’Connor) were lifelong friends who rose up the ranks together. However, things changed once they met Tashi. Both infatuated by her, their competition moved to yet another front while she essentially had them under her thumb. Bouncing back and forth in time, going back to 2006 before inching closer to present day 2019, Art was set to face Patrick as part of his redemption tour as he hoped to return to his winning ways following a long losing streak. With their careers going in separate directions shortly after meeting Tashi, Art and Patrick became increasingly estranged from one another. First being Patrick’s girlfriend and then becoming Art’s coach and later his wife, he and Tashi evolved into a formidable team. Seemingly living vicariously through her husband over the course of his championship-winning tennis career, the winning void within her was being filled. That being said, there was still plenty of unfinished business with Patrick who still had feelings for Tashi.

While Tashi and Art were winning together, their relationship was fine but once the latter started losing, Tashi struggled to find answers. Meanwhile, as years of physical strain on his body across his career pushed Art to the brink, she appeared to see the writing on the wall while Patrick reemerging at just the right time in their lives made her life that much more complicated. The latest match between he and Art was basically served as the culmination of their relationship to that point. Jumping between the past and present, audiences got a front row seat on a roller coaster ride that was their relationship as it devolved, slowly adding context on the way to set up where they stood in the present. Where Challengers could have used that extra character development was during this period, if only to sell that arc. Failing to find balance between the three characters, Art and Patrick were more of a means to develop Tashi and her overall arc. Offering a different spin on the typical power dynamic, she was undisputedly on top in many ways, using the other two men to advance her goal of winning because to her, it was all about winning by any means necessary. Playing tennis, and being good at it, was her means to achieve that feeling. As a result of her injury, her only way to get there was from coaching. It was Tashi’s reason to live. Eventually, it was clear that something had to give and she would have to reevaluate her priorities as that power dynamic was bound to shift. Above all else, the meaning of life was more than just winning or losing.

As mentioned, Challengers was a feast for the eyes and the senses. The Tashi-Art-Patrick drama was equal parts tense and exciting but the film as a whole was also beautifully shot, capturing the many intimacies and intricacies of the relationships between the characters as it builds an arc from the past to the present, to the tennis scenes themselves, playing with different perspectives to put audiences right on the courts and in the middle of play. From all the highs and lows, the matches are roller coasters themselves as Reznor and Ross’ booming score brought yet another level of intensity to the proceedings. All things considered, they would not have worked nearly as well if not for its performances. Zendaya was a force of nature as Tashi, stealing scenes by overwhelming audiences with her sheer star power. A strong, confident, and unapologetic woman, she could not be denied. However, watching that walls of that larger-than-life persona come down and evolve is only a testament to her range. Similarly, Faist and O’Connor were just as strong. The contrast between Art and Patrick, one who grew up and another who didn’t, was fun to watch as it evolved even though their lack of character development left them feeling kind of shortchanged by the end.</p>

At the end of the day, Challengers is an excellent romantic thriller that delivers a story full of edge and sexual tension and is a feast for the eyes and the senses.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.