After a career ending injury, amateur tennis star Tashi (Zendaya) takes on coaching her husband Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), turning him into a tennis superstar. To swing him out of his current losing streak, she signs him up for a tournament which will have him playing against a much lower level of professional tennis players. One of them being Tashi’s ex-boyfriend and Art’s former best friend (Josh O’Connor).
There’s no doubt that Zendaya is a great actress but I believe her outstanding performance truly cements herself as a movie star. She has officially ticked every box on my Movie Star Bingo card.
For someone that doesn’t care that much for the sport of tennis, this film still had me hooked. Luca Guadagnino did an incredible job of rallying back and forth with time jumps to keep us engaged with how intertwined the love triangle is. Luca produces some of the most fascinating shot: some of them still, and some of them slinging you across the court with the ball. You don’t want to blink, you might miss it all.
An absolutely killer score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that will have you amped up and engrossed throughout.
Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor are both excellent co-stars, their unusually strong yet bumpy friendship is tied up through their obsession of winning on and off the tennis court. Their backstabbing strangely doesn’t break their bond, if anything it brings them closer and closer to their own victories.
Challengers is a sweaty, erotic tennis drama with a love triangle that goes back and forth in time like the most spectacular tennis rally you have ever witnessed.