Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers is one of the most outstanding films of the decade, achieving an uproariously off-the-wall standard that we might not see for a while.
Films and TV are often hesitant to examine different forms of romantic relationships with tenderness and care for all parties involved. Countless romance genre aficionados will acknowledge the love triangle as the least preferred trope, for it only ever does more harm than good. In exceedingly rare cases, a love triangle brings to our screen something utterly captivating and unique. Challengers effectively contests the trope’s norms and plays with narratives that completely work, even while they shouldn’t. At the same time, the film communicates how a love language stays unchanged no matter how much time passes in between.
One of the reasons why the film thrives in its means of leaving an emotional impact comes from the three leading performances. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist are a match made in casting heaven. The excruciating back and forth that ricochets throughout the film is somewhat of an enigma—you could try to find words to describe it, but the angles are overwhelmingly tremendous in how much affection they showcase to their respective characters and to each other.
Like Guadagnino’s previous film, there’s a glamourized veil draping through various personalities and painting them through an ogling lens. Yet, the riveting equality we get here, as opposed to the stereotypical power imbalance in such relationships, makes it a giant achievement. In Challengers, there’s an intricately messy glow that’s not only cast on Tashi but on Art and Patrick, too. We can see the mechanisms ticking inside all three of them, drawing the others closer like magnets bound to perpetually lock around one another.
In addition, while actual tennis matches don’t take up most of the film, the metaphorical ball consistently tossed by the players never strikes outside the boundary lines. The game Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), Art Donaldson (Faist), and Patrick Zweig (O’Connor) play never ends. It follows them throughout their lives, no matter how drastically they change from the first time we see them together. The evolution of their relationship is so toxic at times, so deeply unhealthy for all parties involved, yet at the same time, appropriately underscores the title. It’s the very thing they each need to challenge themselves to maybe—actually—live their lives outside of a court.
The sexual tension boils down to the words left unsaid and the striking moments of vulnerability that subsequently show us more alongside the actual beats of physical intimacy. It’s the quiet aftershocks, the verbal sparring, the moments of genuine laughter. And with each collision, the film provides an enamoring exhibition of what it means to be completely and totally made for someone, which might be why the riveting trio works so effortlessly. As twisted as they all are, and despite the fact that the two of them end up married, we see clear signs of what it means to be soul mates with more than one person. To rely on people when they fill the long open wounds that still ache and gush. You understand the profundity of Art and Patrick’s connection. You understand why the men can’t escape Tashi’s charm no matter how much time passes, and you also understand what she sees in them both.
Additionally, the intense “love-making” Art and Patrick present in the final match takes the film from great to extraordinary. It joins the ranks of movies with gut-wrenching third acts that are so extremely hard to predict you sit at the edge of your seat and bite your nails in the process. It’s artistry and an indescribable force all at once to see that last shot and comprehend everything it represents for deeply human relationships.
Challengers is a bold, breathtakingly imperfect film that encompasses a myriad of emotions in its means of conveying connected stories scattered through time. With an electrically heart-pounding score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, it forces viewers to sit still even while it never allows us to catch our breaths. The close-ups, the wide shots, the startling shared agony, and the tender beats of longing that pass through each of them in moments of intimacy that go beyond sexual acts are things that will stay with me for a long, long time.
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In truth, all three of them need serious therapy; they need to look inward, and then they need to check their priorities. (And they need to agree to get together.) But while that’s not something they’re going to do, watching them continue to ricochet around each other like moths to a flame is equally profound to encapsulate what it means to love someone and a sport with every part of your soul. Challengers isn’t a romance, but damn if it isn’t an intoxicatingly gorgeous love story still.
Challengers is now playing exclusively in theaters.