Challengers Movie Review

Challengers (2024)

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Written by: Justin Kuritzkes
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor, Zendaya
Rated: R
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Plot
Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, transformed her husband into a champion. 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.

Verdict
Based on what little I knew of this, I expected a soap opera level love triangle. This defied my expectations completely. While it is a love triangle, this has a surprising amount of depth as the story unfolds around what was supposed to be a meaningless match that becomes a showdown between two former friends that encompasses everything from their lives in the past decade. During the match we explore their past and learn what drove them apart. Everything in this movie from the shots to the music to the framing of the events bolsters this story and culminates in the final set.
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Review
Guadagnino directed Call Me By Your Name and Bones and All. They're both love stories that defy conventions, and I really liked Call Me By Your Name.

Tashi (Zendaya) and Art (Mike Faist) are a couple at the top of tennis. Art is recovering from injury, not playing to his potential. Tashi is his wife and coach. She's trying to chart a path for him to get his confidence back and win the US Open. She enters Art in a low stakes match to give him a boost. This match is the center of the movie as flashbacks fill in the gaps of how the characters get to this match.

Zendaya plays Tashi

Unbeknownst to Tashi and Art is that Pat (Josh O'Connor) is also at this match. Pat is washed up and scraping by. He and Art used to be best friends and he dated Tashi before Art. They first saw Tashi at a tournament, and both of them were infatuated. We know Tashi ends up with Art, so the question is what happens between their first meeting and the present. There's one scene reminiscent of  Y tu mamá también. Tashi likes them both but will only give her number to the winner. This was a tournament neither cared about, but now they are desperate to win.

You wonder how their lives diverged. Pat seemed more skilled than Art, but Art is more successful and fielding endorsements while Pat lives out of his car. Tashi was the most skilled of all of them, but an injury derailed her career and upended her relationships. Through college Art was jealous of Tashi and Pat. While he tried to sabotage the relationship, Pat was always too stubborn for it to last anyway. He was jealous of Tashi and her success, refusing her help. Art welcomed the coaching, wanting to get better to any degree. Tashi's mentorship, and his acceptance of it, helped they're relationship to flourish while he also helps her recovery from injury.

Mike Faist, Zendaya, Josh O'Connor play Art, Tashi, Pat

The whole movie is built around this tennis match where Art and Pat face off. They're former friends, past their prime, and this match wasn't supposed to be important. This match is interrupted with scenes of the relationship between all three of them over the last decade and how it evolved due to outside influences, budding feelings, fears, and goals. We infer that part of Tashi's focus on Art's career is that it gives her a chance to live vicariously through him. Did she choose Art because she loved him more or did she pick the person more likely to succeed? What would have happened if Art hadn't planted the seeds to break Tashi and Pat up in college? The choice between Pat and Art is a bit of passion versus sensibility.

What little I saw of the marketing, I thought this was a sub-par movie using Zendaya and the tantalizing aspect of a love triangle to add enticement. If I had known Guadagnino was directing, I would have expected the depth and focus he imbues to his movies. All of this tension between Art and Pat over the years culminate in this one match. Tennis is a back and forth game, and this plays on that idea with these two players. We also get a few shots with the crowds' heads on swivel, but this shows the on court action with more intensity with a few point of view shots from the tennis ball. There are a number of inventive shots throughout the movie that play to the action. This not only defied my expectations and conventions, it's an engrossing movie that is much more than its premise.