TMS Movie Review: Challengers
(Niko Tavernise / MGM Pictures)
Luca Guadagnino’s much publicized erotic tennis drama Challengers doesn’t beat around the bush. This isn’t a movie about romance or falling in love. It’s sexual tension and eroticism between three young athletes at the top of their game. After years of discourse on whether Hollywood has become chaste dialing back with on screen sex and romance, some filmmakers are finally taking the bait. Case in point, Guadagnino’s new film. It’s marketed as a sex comedy, but actually a cross between a melodrama and a traditional sports flick with a heavy emotional ménage-à-trois at the center.
Set between 2006 and 2019, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) are right out of high school and determined to take over the tennis community. Tashi is the biggest contender of her generation, while Patrick and Art have been best friends and playing the sport together since middle school. When it becomes obvious the three are not only impressed with each other’s skills, but also physically attracted to each other, they use the intimate feelings to their advantage. Things take an unexpected turn years later when Tashi suffers a serious knee injury and ends up marrying Art after breaking up with Patrick.
(Niko Tavernise / MGM Pictures)
The script of Challengers is penned by Justin Kuritzkes, who happens to be married to Celine Song, the writer-director of the most acclaimed love triangle last year, Past Lives (2023). Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross deliver a tight, beat stomping score, while Guadagnino’s direction and Marco Costa’s editing keep you glued to the screen. I generally don’t care about tennis, yet I found all of the match sequences riveting from all the combined efforts. Zendaya officially confirms her status as a movie star, while O’Connor and Faist prove they are two of the best character actors currently out there. The thing with Challengers is there is so much sexual energy, but no extreme sexual activity on camera. The supposed threesome that the media keeps focusing on is not nearly as graphic as viewers are led to believe; and all of the passion shown throughout the feature is just open mouth kissing and heavy petting. There are two instances of brief nudity, but they’re both portrayed causally. It’s all about the tension and suggestions between the characters.
Some parts of Challengers also reminded me a bit of the classic erotic thrillers from the 1980s; primarily how the characters, even the leads, aren’t particularly endearing. Tashi specifically doesn’t have a problem using both men more to achieve her tennis dreams than to be with them privately. This is a movie for adults who don’t want their hand held. If there’s one complaint, it’s that the three stars obviously still look like their adult selves during the early scenes where they’re supposed to be teens. And to those confused about the movie being shown on IMAX, the tennis sequences definitely make the giant screen worth it.