Challengers is game, set, and … (almost) match
The human body is a fascinating topic to think about, but if you’re director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), the human body is primarily a sexual specimen to deliberately inspect, photograph, and place alongside other sexual specimens. Understandably, when you cast three beautiful young stars to be in your film, Zendaya (Dune), Josh O’Connor (The Crown), and Mike Faist (West Side Story), you’d want to supplement their on-screen charisma by showcasing their bodies, especially if your film is a sports drama. Challengers is Guadagnino’s first foray into mainstream territory, for lack of a more applicable term. With a star-led cast and a sharp script, the film is a compelling sports drama that contains the director’s hallmark character complexities, even if style gets in the way of substance in its final act.
Challengers follows a thirteen year love triangle between former tennis prodigy Tashi (Zendaya) and best-friend tennis partners turned opponents Art (Faist) and Patrick (O’Connor). The plot jumps back and forth in time, with its present-day sequence set at a final match at a New Rochelle Challenger tournament between Art, now an accomplished world-ranked tennis star and husband to and coached by Tashi, and Patrick, now a broke and aimless, but no less talented, manchild. The film follows the complex relationships between the three: their first meeting in college, their romantic escapades, and their competitions with each other (and themselves) on and off the court. There isn’t much explored beyond that. The script is tightly focused, and each performance is superbly nuanced. The actors impressively capture static and fluctuating personality traits across time. The chemistry is strong, especially between Faist and O’Connor. The two actors are very comfortable on screen together, in both comedic and dramatic situations. The tennis match sequences are also convincing, with Zendaya reportedly spending months training for the role, and despite a few semi-obvious CGI tennis balls flying across the courts, the action is thrilling. This isn’t your typical quiet Guadagnino indie romance!
By the final act, however, Challengers struggles to decide what it wants to be and who (if anyone) it asks the audience to root for. As the second act roars along at a brisk and occasionally edge-of-your-seat pace, it becomes apparent that a straightforward finale may not be in the cards. Additionally, the editing begins to prioritize style over substance as the film unfolds. Extreme close-ups of the actors’ bodies mid-tennis match, spliced in-between establishing and slow-motion shots, with glistening skin and beads of sweat flying every-which-way, create a visceral tone. It’s artsy but purposeful and gets the point across: this film is about determination, sensuality, and physicality. By the end, however, slow motion feels tedious, and suddenly we’re getting many inventive camera angles, all which distract from, if not prolong, the dramatic conclusion. There are a handful of extended sequences between Tashi and Patrick that get the point across quickly with stylistic flourishes but linger within that moment for seconds, even minutes. The same can be said about the final few match points. As strong as the first and second act are (the game and set, if you will), the third act (the match) seems awkwardly evasive as the characters and filmmakers stumble towards an acceptable finish.
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Challengers will be in theaters on Friday, April 26th.
