REVIEW: ‘Challengers’ is a Romantic, Emotionally Complex Story

Director Luca Guadagnino is back with his all-new film, Challengers. The film focuses on former tennis pro, Tashi (Zendaya), who transforms her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) from a nothing special tennis player to an elite competitor. When Art’s professional career takes turn for the worse, Tashi enters his into a challenger tennis tournament in hopes Art will find his spark again. However, when Art’s final opponent in the tournament is his former best friend, and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend, the washed-up Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), tensions rise among the trio, and they have nothing to do with the actual match.

I really wanted to like this film. The casting was A+ and the story, based solely on promotions, seemed really intriguing, but I just could not get into the film. There wasn’t enough time spent on explaining how the characters got to this final match, personally and professionally. The beginning build up was beautiful. Guadagnino takes the audience back to the first moment these three characters met and builds the story from there. Filled with off the chart chemistry and a whole lot of tension, he intertwines these flashbacks with the present-day scenes easily answering the onslaught of questions that arise. However, about halfway through the film, it loses it momentum. The transitions between flashbacks and present day seem rush and lack the development needed to get to the final act of the film. Instead, he jumps to the final set between Patrick and Art expecting the audience to fully understand all the reasons that led to why these two are feeling the way they are about each other. He also doesn’t fully shape Tashi’s relationship with Art and her relationship with Patrick. There are too many questions left unanswered when all is said and done.

With that being said, the film is filled with a lot of tension, both sexual and emotional. Zendaya oozes confidence as Tashi. She is not only, in my opinion, the villain of the story, but she is the villain in her own story as she controls the personal tennis match unfolding on screen, and Zendaya gives it her all. She commands your attention when she steps into any scene and easily navigates Tashi’s nonstop rollercoaster role in this film. O’Connor is great as the smarmy, Patrick, but there is not enough development to his character. There were so many questions left unanswered, but that didn’t deter O’Connor from creating a character you can’t help but hate. Faist rounds out our cast as the naïve Art and does well alongside Zendaya and O’Connor. His chemistry with both Zendaya and O’Connor is what makes his performance so good.

Challengers’ focus is less about the sport and more about the drama that surrounds this trio. Guadagnino uses the back-and-forth motion of a tennis match to drive the tension between these three characters creating a romantic, emotionally complex story that will not be for everyone.

Grade: C+