Review: Film: Challengers

Note: Spoilers, so read with caution.

My initial thought walking out of the cinema was ‘What the fuck was that ending?’ I had so many questions that I wanted to watch it again to see if I was missing something. The acting was impeccable, the videography and production was amazing, and the plot simple yet captivating. So, as one does after feeling like they missed the inside of a really great joke, they turn to Google and TikTok. The rabbit hole was deep and I enjoyed every moment of it. Let’s break down the film, everything I have researched, everything I loved, things I didn’t like, and what I rate the movie overall. 

Luca Guadagnino, the director of Challengers, was recently on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast. Guadagnino speaks on details he added while directing the film. In the opening shot, there is a close-up of all three main characters; Art Donaldson (played by Mike Faist), Patrick Zweig (Played by Josh O’Connor) and Tashi Duncan (Played by Zendaya). Guadagnino explains how those three close-ups also belong at the end of the movie. We as an Audience don’t know that at the start. He said, “The writing was on the wall.” It was very clever both opening the film and ending the film with the same scene. At the start, it shows us there is a relationship between all the characters, and a relationship with tennis. At the end it shows that despite everything that changed, the desire for tennis and each other stayed the same.

Photo Cred: Mario Gogh (Unsplash Stock image)

A quote from Guadagnino on the podcast was “The intertwinement of one another.” The centre of what connected all three of them was tennis. I personally don’t know a lot about the game of tennis, but I don’t think that matters to the film at all. Tennis was used more as a metaphor for a relationship. Tashi near the start of the film says “Tennis is a relationship,” and she goes on to say that when she is playing, it’s like both players are in love. Competition is a huge theme throughout the film, whether that's the game itself or the characters fighting for the desire of another character. Tashi’s life was tennis so she made everything a competition, even the boys. The boys used competition to get their desire, whether that was each other or Tashi. In a way, I feel like all three characters were essential to each other. If you were to take one away it would be like me missing my morning coffee, it just doesn't work. 

There has been talk online about how the tennis racket is split into three parts, the handle (the body), the shaft (the throat) and the head (the mind). Patrick is the body, Art is the throat (also the heart) and Tashi is the head. They need each other to play good tennis but also for their relationship. Quoting Luca Guadagnino “The intertwinement of one another.” I think this would make a lot of sense because when the boys were playing the best tennis, it was with each other and with Tashi watching. They all fell apart without one another. It is clever how the producers and writers of this film played with the idea of three people in a relationship over two. 

There is no better experience than knowing that every detail a film was thought about. That every time you watch the movie you come away with something new. There has been online discourse about who the worst character was. Initially, I thought Tashi, after all, she cheated on her husband and created competition between the boys. However, Zendaya hinted in an interview that if you watch it again you will come out with a new idea of who the worst character is. Alluding to Art, who caused Patrick and Tashi to break up in the first place. I will believe anything Queen Zendaya says. Nonetheless, looking at the details from the film, Art and Patrick did some shady stuff too. 

Photo Cred: Ben Hershey (Unsplash Stock Image)

I wasn't a fan of all the logo branding in this film. It was constant and a bit too obvious. I think the best branding in films is when you subconsciously notice it. There were a few times where I thought, ‘I wonder how much the brand paid to have this in the film.’ Which is never good because you are no longer focused on the plot. I was able to move past it because sports do have a lot of advertisements and this movie is sport oriented. I do think they could have made it a lot more subtle. 

Reading reviews on Challengers was confusing. There were quite a few bad reviews, but I think overall this movie was great and very clever. I do love leaving a movie and wanting to know more. It creates conversations, and the need to watch it again. So despite the fact that I kept getting frights from the tennis balls that were flying through the screen, I did enjoy this film.

Rating: 4/5