Title: Challengers
Year: 2024
Director: Luca Guadagino
Country: US
Language: English
With Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Bones and All (2022) in his filmography, it would seem Director Luca Guadagino is no stranger to portraying complex, multi-faceted relationships unfold on the big screen. Using tennis to portray a love-triangle is bold, and easily could have fell apart with a poor screenplay, but thankfully Guadagino works with Past Lives (2023) playwright Justin Kuritzkes to weave a fascinating character study of three intense athletes.
Tashi (Zendaya) , a former tennis prodigy turned coach, transformed her husband (Mike Faist) into a champion. But to overcome a recent losing streak and redeem himself, he'll need to face off against his former best friend, and Tashi's ex-boyfriend (Josh O' Connor).
The film's narrative leaps back and forth, between present day and the past. The structure does a great job at slowly revealing the positions of each participant in this love triangle. Advertised as the "sexy threesome" movie; Challengers is far more interested in how body language and subtle conversation add to the story structure & creates an engaging work of art.
The cinematography, by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, provides an array of unique camerawork that makes a tennis match feel like a visual epic event. The electronic score, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, gives Challengers a pulsating, energetic feel that intensifies the emotions onscreen.
Challengers proves that Zendaya should be a big star. Her ability to emote through small shifts in her body language is outstanding. Faist (West Side Story) & O'Connor (God's Own Country) are also perfectly cast. This may become my favourite film of 2024, it is superb in every way.
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