Challengers – Film Review
by Brian Merriman

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Justin Kuritzkes
Starring: Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor
Duration: 131 minutes

‘Challengers’ assembles a cracking cast and delivers an innovative film which is thrilling and toxic. There are so many banal B movie sports stories where we are asked to support the underdog and wait for them to triumph in the final match. ‘Challengers’ is no such predictable a treatment. It is a gripping examination of inter-personal relationships, that begin in adolescence and prove that sometimes, people never grow beyond them.

Zendaya (Tashi Duncan) plays an up-and-coming young tennis superstar whose beauty seduces two young male tennis stars ‘Art’ and ‘Patrick’, in a love triangle that never goes away. Mike Faist (Art) excelled as ‘Riff’ in ‘West Side Story’ and his athleticism is once again put to good use here. His vulnerability is palpable throughout the story, which leaves him open to the exploitation of stronger characters. He grows the most in a story that rocks the pillars that support his career as an athlete, a lover and a father. ‘Challengers’ is quite a refreshing study of modern masculinity in a hyper-competitive sporting environment.

‘The Crown’s’ Josh O’Connor (‘Patrick’) knocks it out of the park as the uber-confident, down-on-his-luck, 31-year-old player still grafting for success. He is beguiling and uses his sex appeal to busk himself through life, never fully dedicating himself to the success that drives most pro athletes. Is he a master of manipulation or does he meet his match on centre court?

‘Challengers’ is much more than a sports movie. You don’t need to like or know tennis to understand this multi-layered expose of love, lust, ambition and revenge. Zendaya is making her mark in movies including her brilliant role in Dune 2. She also produces here and is putting a serious marker down that she is an exciting and intelligent presence in the entire industry.

The movie flashes back to the emergence of relationships in the Junior tennis cycle, in a lonely and competitive surrounding of trying to make it in professional sport and life. There is a lovely exploration of the friendship between the young professionals, both bowled over by the confidence, skill and beauty of ‘Tashi’.

Fortune intervenes in Tashi’s dead cert career, yet her skill and ability to divert her unassailable drive into pursuing success in tennis are remarkable and ruthless. She is in control and is so beguiling that all other competitors are distracted from pursuing and cherishing the essential goals that are essential and important to any aspiring professionals. She pushes all the buttons leaving us wondering who or what will prevail until the final shot.

‘Challengers’ is a gripping tension-filled plot by Justin Kuritzkes, aided by an exceptional soundtrack and sound that brings tension, atmosphere and realism to the on-screen games. Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and Guadagnino’s skilful direction, and use of sweat and water, at times, have you on the edge of your seat in wondering how the next of many twists will play out in the final game.

There is something new, fresh and determined in this production team. The cast is powerful and shows their emotions in close-ups. This is one of the most modern and cohesive production teams with a quality product that wrings every drop out of the resources invested into it, and out of the audience that can only be truly impressed by such a worthwhile cinema experience.