Tennis is sex in the love triangle of Challengers that could afford to push further
“Tennis is a relationship”
Unsurprisingly, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers is as much about sex as it is about tennis but for all its initial genuinely erotic touch, its shift to the egos of its central threesome feels like a bit of a cockblock. Written by Justin Kuritzkes, it has a certain wit to it and Guadagnino brings weirdness as well as memeability to make it an entertaining watch nonetheless.
The film tracks 15 years of the tangled relationships between boyhood tennis friends (and US Open boys’ junior doubles winners) Art Donaldson and Patrick Zweig and the woman between them, Tashi Duncan, coach and wife to one, intermittent lover to the other. And in a fragmented timeline, the complex interconnectedness between all three of them is played up to the max as Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom offer up some ingenious POVs.
Tashi was a teenage tennis prodigy herself and on their first meeting in 2006, playfully plays with them both in their hotel room, even encouraging them to snog due to the evident erotic charge. But as they focus their attentions on battling for her affections instead of seizing the…rackets to hand, professional and personal competitiveness come to shape their lives and careers.
Josh O’Connor’s fiery Patrick is the lesser talented of the tennis guys but initially the one who gets the girl, or more accurately is chosen by Zendaya’s Tashi, their sex is roguishly explosive. By contrast, Mike Faist’s Art is much more cerebral and able to parlay his skills into multiple Grand Slam wins; after Tashi’s playing career is ended by injury, her coaching plays a large part in that, perhaps even the most significant part of their relationship even though they share a child.
Fate conspires to set the guys against each other in the final of a competition several years down the line, the build-up to which is threaded throughout the film and to be honest, it is the relationship between them that is the most compelling. From churros-nibbling to heated sauna encounters, the chemistry between O’Connor and Faist sizzles to the beats of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ thumping score.
