Sports movies are ripe for drama. The inherent competition makes them a great canvas for a filmmaker to paint a cinematic picture on, and tennis may offer the best metaphor for relationship drama. The audience at a match grants a great visual of the back-and-forth that occurs when two people are struggling to make their point. Director Luca Gaudagino’s Challengers (2024) brings that visual to the screen, both literally and metaphorically. The audience at the tennis matches is enthralled as two titans of the game smash the green ball back and forth while the cinematic audience is sent back and forth in time of the three characters’ history together.
Art (Mike Faist) is a world-famous Grand Slam tennis champion who is attempting to come back from an injury. His wife and coach, Tashi (Zendaya), who had to retire from playing after a bad knee injury in her college days, signs him up for a “Challenger” event, a low-level pro-tournament event, in hopes of snapping him out of his slump. In the final, he finds his former best friend and Tashi’s old flame, Patrick (Josh O’Connor). Rather than starting at the beginning of their story, the film centers around this tennis match, and volleys between flashbacks to raise the stakes of the game.
All three lead performances are outstanding. Zendaya owns the screen and sells her character’s dominating personality. Tashi knows what she wants, and doesn’t have time for anything that gets in the way of her achieving her goals. There is something admirable about it, while at the same time being extremely cold. The intensity that Zendaya brings to her tennis matches is mirrored in her interactions with the two men.
O’Connor’s character Patrick is in a state of arrested development and seems to be just floating in limbo. He’s talented but unfocused, and his life reflects that in every way. It becomes clearer who this guy is every time he is on screen. Whether it’s his credit card being declined, this “pro” tennis player smoking cigarettes, or him going on Tinder dates for a place to sleep, Patrick is just getting by. However, there is something empathetic about him, despite some of the darker choices we know he makes.
Art’s main contribution is this longing and desire to please Tashi. He also seems to initially want to please Patrick. However, Art seems to know what he wants out of life and accepts that he can’t do it on his own. He takes opportunities when presented with them, and isn’t afraid of humbling himself. Faist is quickly becoming a screen presence that immediately works for me. He was tremendous in Steven Speilberg’s West Side Story, and will also be in Jeff Nichol’s The Bikeriders later this year.
The editing of the film makes it fairly relentless. Despite its over two-hour runtime, it moves so quickly that it feels impossible to get bored. That’s not to say scenes are rushed, as there are several moments of quiet interactions. There is always something going on to keep the energy up, and this energy is helped tremendously at times by the emphatic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It is used to great effect multiple times and is impossible to miss as it blasts from the speakers.
The movie also features a lot of innovative cinematography. Many of these over-stylized shots are used to make the tennis feel very exciting. These include POV shots from players – and in some cases, an inanimate object – and looking through the ground up at players. The use of these increases as the tension builds in the matches. Some may find these to be a bit too gimmicky or distracting, but they made for some innovative visuals that added to the intensity and melodrama.
Challengers definitely worked for me. I was completely hooked on the triangle and the tennis. Plus, the score had me dancing in my seat every time it kicked into overdrive. I simply had a blast watching it.
Challengers will be in theaters on April 26.
Rating: Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy.
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