Challengers: A Tennis-Inspired Psychological Drama of Desire and Obsession directed by Luca Guadagnino

In tennis, “love” holds no significance. The term has little connection to “Challengers,” a movie that uses tennis merely as its backdrop for an intricate and alluring psychological triangle with unexpected twists of fate, missed opportunities, and intense sexual desire intertwined in the storyline. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, known for his film “Call Me By Your Name”, this latest production explores how elite-athlete mentality seeps into personal life as well. The plot revolves around a singles match between Art (played by Mike Faist from West Side Story) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor from Crown). We flash back to their adolescence when they were tennis prodigies, both falling head over heels for Tashi (Zendaya), an emerging star whose beauty is rivalled only by her outstanding performance. Fast-forwarding thirteen years, we see that Tashi is Art’s wife and coach as she battles with a knee injury ending her own career aspirations. However, it becomes apparent that she still lives vicariously through him – he acknowledges this fact overtly saying “I am playing for both of us”. As the audience ponders how they all ended up where they are today, Guadagnino blurs the lines between sex and seduction with sports success as a primary motivator. While sexual tension plays an integral role in the movie’s plotline, it is not solely about romance; instead, this film focuses on dissecting and interpreting the ambiguous relationships of these three key characters. Although Zendaya portrays Tashi more intriguingly than her co-stars as she uncovers more complicated angles that create further complications to the narrative arc, all three main figures remain somewhat enigmatic due in part to its structure’s peculiarity. Despite some occasional outbursts of frustration with their tennis rackets, these characters are prone to tantrums at times. While Guadagnino employs innovative camera angles and speedy shots for the game scenes that intensify adrenaline levels as we follow balls being volleyed across the court – nevertheless it feels excessively protracted if one isn’t accustomed to observing an entire Wimbledon or US Open finals in a movie format. Overall, Tashi appears the most complicated of characters due to her ambiguous nature; however, this film’s conclusion is too precious and unsatisfying – undermining its final ranking as an outright winner. “Challengers” will premiere on April 26th at US cinemas with a rating R.