Luca Guadagnino’s recent sports romance film Challengers has audiences across the nation absolutely struck with awe (and the intense urge to sign up for tennis lessons as soon as possible). In this story, Zendaya plays Tashi, a former tennis prodigy that transitions to coaching after a career-ending injury. She dreams of making Art, her washed-up husband played by Mike Faist, a tennis champion (and living vicariously through him). However, the one thing standing in the way of getting his fire back is Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend, Patrick Zweig, played by Josh O’ Connor.
As you might be able to guess from that short summary, this movie is about much, much more than just tennis, which can most likely be attributed to the director’s distinct vision behind this film. If you’ve seen any of his past work, like Call Me By Your Name or Bones and All, you would immediately see that this film has Guadanigno written all over it. From the thigh close-ups to characters constantly being depicted eating (churros will never, ever look the same), this film is an extremely powerful exploration of consumption, power, sex, and desire – themes constantly present throughout Guadagnino’s work as a director.
As the narrative unfolds, Guadagnino masterfully weaves together the intricate threads of desire and ambition, highlighting the blurred lines between personal relationships and professional aspirations as athletes. Furthermore, the film’s exquisite cinematography, characterized by sweeping shots of the tennis court juxtaposed with intimate close-ups of the characters, serves to underscore the tension and complexity of their emotional entanglements, especially with the relationship between the two male characters.
Within this film, audiences are primarily presented with two modes of masculinity– that of Patrick’s unwashed jerky, yet charming over-confidence and that of Art’s submissive yet minorly-manipulative, loving nature. Considering that the most prominent aspect of this film is the complex love triangle where all the sides touch, it is inevitable that these two male characters will clash. They’re designed, after all, to act as opposing forces both as individuals and on the court as players.
This raises another question: who is truly the main character of this film? While many would immediately lean toward Zendaya’s character Tashi, I might argue that his film more closely follows the relationship of the two male characters, Art and Patrick. At the beginning of their relationship as young men, they start out as deeply-close doubles partners, which soon changes once their mutual desire for Zendaya (and some may argue for each other) gets in the way.
Space and physicality plays a huge role in establishing the relationship between these men, as exemplified by the physical embrace that bookends their relationship with one another on the court. Later on in the film, when Patrick and Art must face off against one another in the Challenger, they are at the worst point in their relationship. Yet, they are depicted in a small sauna together, one of the most intimate and vulnerable settings possible, which was by no means an accident.
Throughout the film, audiences come to realize that these three people are deeply and inextricably intertwined, despite their efforts to try to escape one another. In fact, throughout the film, tennis plays a pivotal role in conveniently forcing these people back together just when they need it, such as when Art must reunite with Patrick to qualify for the Open and when Patrick reconvenes with Tashi to ask if she will be his tennis coach.
Despite tennis being a physical act, in this film, the oral discussion of tennis and tennis movements are a form of communication. This occurs as the way Patrick can communicate with Art through the movement of his serve, for example. This code used by the characters to discuss their relationships and wants with each other causes viewers, and even the characters, to ask “Are we really talking about tennis right now?” Your answer: no. We are definitely not talking about tennis right now, which makes it all the more interesting.
In essence, Challengers transcends the confines of its sports romance genre, emerging as a spicy, thought-provoking portrait of desire, competition, and ambition within the human condition. So, no this film is not about tennis. It’s about sex. Or desire. Or consumption. Or maybe tennis again? I don’t know. All I know is that this movie is a must-see, even just for the sake of being able to contribute to the rife cultural conversation that surrounds it. And, if you’re wondering, yes. I’ve already booked my tennis lessons.