★★★★★
Exhilarating. Energetic. Excellent.
Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers is a riveting, pulse-pounding, thrilling sports romance-drama that blew my mind. I loved, loved, LOVED Challengers - didn’t know what to expect, and walked out of the theater totally buzzing. It’s smart and sophisticated while still poppy and propulsive. This is cinema that will carve new neural pathways and an essential reminder that film is the director’s medium. Luca Guadagnino gifts us the most erotic, expressionistic mid-budget studio drama in years.
Challengers is electric. Every single second of this film is charged with a carnal passion for romance and sport. The chemistry between Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor is utterly intoxicating, as is watching them navigate their pursuit of success in tennis as it becomes inseparable from their personal relationships. I must stress that all three are phenomenal in the film. Zendaya’s work, however, is especially staggering. I will 100% be rewatching and overanalyzing everything in the film, but especially the brilliant subtleties in Zendaya’s performance, ones that contribute to Tashi’s poise and confidence, and how she formulates her strategy to finding the perfect match.
There is so much style in every frame. The cinematography is exquisite and really creative, especially in the final tennis match. It has some of the best camerawork I have seen in a very long time. Much like the plot, it’s playful and clever and keeps you on your toes. That final ten minutes is flawless filmmaking. The energy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ techno score brings the house down with its heart-pounding and electric pulse of energy (The Reznor/Ross score is riveting and purposefully over-the-top on occasion, as it plays an integral role in (brilliantly) evoking specific emotions — it meshes so beautifully with the way these tennis scenes are so brilliantly edited), and that sound design, man it was awesome. And the editing — the story volleys back and forth in time, but the brilliant editing keeps the drama high. Some sequences had me full-on levitating.
Challengers is sexy as hell with some Uncut Gems level stress and tension! The building and use of tension in the movie is masterful. The climax is powerful and leaves you wanting more but also gives you enough to know exactly what happens next. This movie is an ace. Absolutely insane filmmaking — Guadagnino is truly a master of his craft! The performances from the three leads are magnetic, the dual timeline storytelling is consistently engaging, and the tennis scenes are incredibly tense. The central trio here is astonishing with a complicated, messy, dramatic relationship that defies easy analysis — it is a love triangle on acid. AND it's an original, fresh film! Challengers is in the conversation for movie of the year. Game. Set. Match.
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