Challengers review: "A pulsating tale that's sure to get deuces flowing"
Apr. 12, 2024Expect code violations aplenty from a pulsating tale of discord at the net cord that’s sure to get deuces flowing.
Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
The nominal source of their antipathy is Zendaya’s Tashi, a Serena-ish prodigy turned exacting taskmistress who, having had her playing career curtailed by a cruel injury, has devoted herself to making husband Art the best he can be. A previous dalliance with Patrick when they were all promising up-and-comers, though, means her loyalties are nothing if not divided when her past and present partners come face to face again at a middling ‘challenger’ event.
But wait! Might Art and Patrick have their own private ball-game going on, one in which Tashi is merely a bystander? That’s the provocative proposition at the heart of Guadagnino’s drama, a tricksy affair story-wise in which three narrative threads – the trio’s amorous history, the run-up to the tournament and its sweat-drenched, grudge-match climax – are weaved together by writer Justin Kuritzkes into one serpentine,Dunkirkian tapestry.
Keeping a handle on these multiple/simultaneous time frames can occasionally be as arduous as the tennis itself, elevated here by DoP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom into a dizzying battle of attrition and wills (at one point the ball becomes his camera’s PoV as it zooms from racquet to racquet, while elsewhere it’s a projectile fired so directly at the viewer one almost feels obliged to duck).
Guadagnino, however, ensures things are always entertaining, one pivotal clinch involving two of his protagonists – a parking-lot embrace in the middle of a windstorm, incongruously scored by an angelic boys’ choir singing Welsh hymn Levy-Dew – reaching an almost operatic level of sensuality and emotion.
It might be too heady a brew for some, especially those whose appreciation of tennis is limited to strawberries and cream. On the acting front, though, it’s a virtual grand slam, Zendaya, Faist, and particularly O’Connor fine-tuning their characters’ 13-year romantic imbroglio into a lusty love match for the ages.
Challengers is in UK cinemas and US theaters from April 26.
More info
Neil Smith is a freelance film critic who has written for several publications, including Total Film. His bylines can be found at the BBC, Film 4 Independent, Uncut Magazine, SFX Magazine, Heat Magazine, Popcorn, and more.
Zendaya and the Challengers cast talk sex scenes, tennis camp and their unusual Pixar-shaped preparation
