Review by Nick Spake. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re reviewing Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers.”
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00:00Tashi Duncan, she's gonna turn a whole family into millionaires.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're reviewing Luca Guadagnino's Challengers.
00:15Some movies have audiences sold with the first trailer.
00:18Challengers had the internet buzzing with a single image of Mike Feist,
00:22Zendaya, and Josh O'Connor sitting on a bed in the hotel room.
00:26Which one of us?
00:30Honestly, the film didn't need any promotional material beyond that to hook us in.
00:35The image more or less sums up the themes of Challengers,
00:38serving as a teaser in more ways than one.
00:40Yet it's arguably not even the steamiest moment in Guadagnino's latest masterstroke.
00:45He's not in love with you.
00:47What makes you think I want someone to be in love with me?
00:49The most sensual scenes don't take place on a bed, but rather on the tennis court.
00:54Those who go in expecting something more overtly erotic might be caught off guard.
00:59Through the power of suggestion, though,
01:01Challengers turns an air-conditioned theater into a sweatbox.
01:04Hey, I love you.
01:08I know.
01:09O'Connor and Feist play Patrick and Art, respectively,
01:12best friends since childhood who remain joined at the hips as they
01:15rise through the ranks on the tennis scene.
01:17While they've spent most of their lives playing doubles,
01:20a third player gets caught in the net with the arrival of Zendaya's Tashi.
01:23Hey, come hang out with us later.
01:25Want me to come tuck you in?
01:26No, we can just keep talking.
01:28An up-and-coming tennis superstar, Tashi can have any man she wants.
01:32As it turns out, she wants Patrick and Art, who are both equally entranced by her.
01:37Tashi isn't stuck in the middle of a love triangle.
01:40She's more like a Venus and Serena flytrap, alluring the two boys as if they were bugs.
01:45I think maybe we're disturbed by the fact that she could have been into someone like me.
01:48When we were teenagers.
01:50When we were teenagers.
01:51Tashi says that she isn't a homewrecker,
01:54but there's no denying that three's a crowd on and off the court.
01:58I'm taking such good care of my little white boys.
02:00Justin Karitskis' riveting screenplay is mostly told out of order,
02:04adding layers to these characters one flashback at a time.
02:07It's nice to see you lit up about something, even if it's my girlfriend.
02:11In the present, Tashi and Art have asserted themselves as a power couple,
02:15but that power is gradually depleting.
02:17A comeback match soon turns into a heated reunion as Art and a down-on-his-luck Patrick
02:22find themselves on opposite sides of the net.
02:24I assume you planned this?
02:26Not this part.
02:26While both are still playing for Tashi's affection, she never feels like a prize to be won.
02:32O'Connor believes that every member of this trio plays the puppet master at some point.
02:36Of the three characters, though,
02:38Tashi maintains the most control with the ball rarely leaving her court.
02:42There is a fourth player that trumps all others, tennis itself.
02:46You don't know what tennis is?
02:49It's a relationship.
02:50With an injury cutting her career short, Tashi seeks glory through her two men.
02:54Whether Tashi chooses Art or Patrick, they'll always come second after the game.
02:59I'm playing for both of us, Tashi.
03:01Both know this deep down, but that only motivates them to play harder.
03:05Being her husband, Art would love nothing more than for Tashi to say
03:09tennis doesn't matter and that he's enough.
03:11Unfortunately, my only skill in life is hitting a ball with a racket.
03:14Even if Tashi told him that, their relationship would still be clouded by doubt.
03:18Zendaya has matured exponentially as an actress in just a few years.
03:22In Challengers, she gives her most internal performance
03:25as an enigma that Art and Patrick are fruitlessly trying to unwrap.
03:29Neither knows what she's thinking with Tashi constantly on guard.
03:33Every time one of them breaks, though, Tashi swings back.
03:36We went somewhere really beautiful together.
03:39Part of what makes this love triangle so intense is that it's not strictly heterosexual.
03:44As much as Art and Patrick want Tashi,
03:46you get the sense that they want each other as well.
03:49How often does this happen?
03:50Going after the same girl?
03:51Not as often as you think.
03:52We usually have different types.
03:54Although the two claim to be nothing more than friends,
03:56Guadagnino fills their scenes with tension.
03:59Whether or not it's sexual tension is up to the audience.
04:02Of course, there's plenty of subtext to interpret.
04:04This is a game about winning the points that matter.
04:07Watching the guys chow down on bananas and churros,
04:10one can't help but notice that they have an appetite for food with a particular shape.
04:14It brings an infamous scene from Superbad to mind.
04:17No hot dogs, no popsicles.
04:19O'Connor has also compared Challengers to Superbad,
04:22saying both are, quote,
04:23"...films that you can just keep watching because it's such a thrill."
04:27Zendaya, meanwhile, has described Challengers as
04:29"...codependency the movie."
04:31So you're saying I should be flattered?
04:32Aren't you everybody's type?
04:34The dynamic between Art and Patrick could be read as friendship,
04:37romance, or codependency.
04:39In any case, the two struggle to live without each other,
04:42even when their rivalry is at its most bitter.
04:44He's not in love with you.
04:46Once Tashi's in the picture,
04:48she becomes another essential player that neither can go on without.
04:52To an extent, Tashi is also codependent.
04:55Sure, she treats Art and Patrick like they're trading cards.
04:57Without at least one of them by her side, though,
05:00her ties to tennis will essentially be severed.
05:03In that sense, none of these characters can have what they want.
05:06Art and Patrick will never fully have Tashi,
05:08while she'll never be able to call herself an all-star.
05:11You want my best piece of advice for you?
05:13You want me to go at you?
05:14Okay, quit.
05:15Challengers plays like a fiery tennis match,
05:17with the audience being whacked back and forth.
05:19Can I have a cigarette with me?
05:20I have to talk to you.
05:21I don't smoke, and I'm not talking to you.
05:23Sayambu Mukthipram's cinematography makes us feel as if we're the ball,
05:28while Marco Costa's editing provides a unique perspective from each character,
05:31bringing out their turmoil.
05:33The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
05:36emphasizes the raw passion poured into every shot,
05:39leaving us physically exhausted by the finale.
05:44At times, Guadagnino can overindulge in slow motion,
05:47especially in the third act as we exceed the two-hour mark.
05:51Yet this does allow the audience to soak up every ounce of blood,
05:54sweat, and tears as we work our way to the climax.
05:57So, what do you think?
06:02How f***ing dare you?
06:04Without going into specific spoilers,
06:06the big finish is inclined to leave viewers divided.
06:09Instead of building to an explosion,
06:11Challengers diffuses with an overdue breather.
06:14I don't need to play mind games with you.
06:15It's an ending that has its cake and eats it, too.
06:18Some may see it as a cop-out, but given the nature of these characters,
06:22perhaps this is the only way the film could end.
06:25Toshi, Art, and Patrick can't be satisfied with one or the other.
06:29They need to have it all.
06:30The final shot reflects this,
06:32although the ending by no means wraps everything up in a tidy package.
06:35It's an ambiguous outcome that leads the audience to ask,
06:38is everyone in this scenario a winner or loser?
06:41I mean, it wasn't even like tennis. It was an entirely different game.
06:44Challengers is one of the most fascinating sports movies to come out this century.
06:48To simply describe this as a sports movie would do it a disservice, however.
06:52It's like a tennis movie, but it's not really about tennis.
06:55Tennis provides the narrative's driving force,
06:57but the film plays more like a game of chess,
06:59with the internal battles proving even more gripping than the physical ones.
07:03Unlike a conventional sports movie,
07:05there isn't a particular player that we find ourselves siding with.
07:08This is a passionate love story where the rules of the game of tennis
07:13become the rules of the game of seduction.
07:15Each character here has the depth of a Shakespearean figure,
07:18earning our empathy one minute and our disdain the next.
07:22You may go into the theater thinking this is a movie about tennis.
07:25Walking out, you'll never look at tennis quite the same again.
07:28And that's what's so fun about it.
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07:46Guadagnino previously gave us the queer classic Call Me By Your Name.
07:50Call me by your name and I'll call you by mine.
07:53Some may debate if Challengers meets the criteria of queer cinema,
07:56but both share a similar theme of longing.
07:59Herein lies Guadagnino's strength as a storyteller,
08:02saying more through the unspoken rather than
08:04having the characters unleash their innermost desires.
08:07But imagine if you could turn Patrick Zweig into a guy who wins a slam.
08:11While Guadagnino brings quiet intimacy to both films,
08:15Challengers is ultimately a hot and heavy experience
08:17that'll have your heart racing from start to finish.
08:20Elevated by a triple grand slam of powerhouse performances,
08:24Ms. Mojo is awarding Challengers a 9 out of 10.
08:28What did you think of Challengers?
08:30Let us know in the comments.
08:37Do you agree with our picks?
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