People say Challengers
is one of those films you’ll regret not seeing in theaters and I confirm
that’s true. I regret I didn’t join Challengers
summer back in 2024.
First impression
I had access to subscribe Prime Video for three days. As I scrolled
through the app, Challengers popped
up on home page. I added this movie to my watch list because why not? It turned
out to be the best decision! Challengers became
my favorite movie to watch on this streaming service.
All I knew about this movie is 2T: tennis and threesome. I
didn’t look up for the crew and cast, but I can tell the cinematography is Call Me by Your Name (2017) vibes. Later,
I found out the filmmakers are the same people who worked on that movie, director
Luca Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. The screenplay was
written by Justin Kuritzkes, who—fun fact—is married to Celine Song, Past Lives (2023) director. I can’t keep
my focus on how cute Art was, I didn’t realize the actor was Mike, my Shayla from
West Side Story (2021). All the
familiar things made so much sense!
My favorite intoxicating trio
Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor are the trio I never knew I needed. Their threesome kiss is the craziest kissing scene I’ve seen in movies. It was beautifully filmed. Luca really has the sexiest idea to shoot a sexy film without a sex scene. The threesome kiss isn’t scripted, it’s improvised, making it even sexier.
In an interview with Fandango, Zendaya said she loves the
kiss scene because we see the characters’ enjoyment. They were teenagers, shit
hasn’t happened yet, they didn’t try to hurt each other.
Challengers argue
the literal meaning of love triangle. It’s not two guys chase one girl, but
three crazy-ass bitches who fuck up with each other. If one more thing enters
their relationship and turns it into foursome, it’ll be tennis. Some argue that
Tashi is the tennis ball served between
Art and Patrick. I mean Challengers isn’t
really about tennis, isn’t it? This movie uses tennis as a metaphor. As Luca explained,
tennis is an objective sport, but he wanted to make it subjective here.
Patrick and Art, the bisexual
icons
I’d like to argue that Patrick and Art have more chemistry with
each other than either of them has with Tashi. I mean from the name itself, you
can’t spell Patrick without Art. From Art’s perspective on his sad marriage
with Tashi, I can tell “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan is a song that’s
stuck in Patrick’s head.
The improvised churros scene makes the chemistry between Patrick and Art stronger. The script never specifies how they were supposed to eat
churros. Josh was just hungry. Then again, Luca had this sexy idea to show churros as a penis symbol. The way
Patrick is looking for Art before looking for his own girlfriend, the way he pulls
Art’s chair so they sit closer, and the way they share churros excitedly... Are you
sure that’s not gay? [insert a dog meme with “I know what you are” caption in
it]
Tashi, their homewrecker
From the start, Patrick objectifies Tashi as a hot woman, he’s
a horny womanizer. On the other hand, Art admires her as a remarkable young
woman and a talented tennis player.
The film’s tagline “her game, her rules” fits perfectly.
When Tashi begins playing with Patrick and Art, she switches her focus from giving
attention to one of them, and lets the other one feel left out. She does the
same thing to both guys. Ever since Tashi plays a game with her little white
boys, she becomes a homewrecker of their homoerotic friendship.
People refer to Patrick and Art as fire and ice. What’s
meant by fire is not only in his style of playing tennis, but also implies that
Patrick is man with ego. Each time Tashi pays attention to Art, his facial
expression falls into disappointment. Or... Does he feel ignored by Art?
Art is codependent based on who he is with, he mirrors the
person he’s with. When he’s with Patrick, he smokes like Patrick. When he’s
with Tashi, he pressures himself to play tennis because tennis is the love of
her life. In tennis, Art is arguably the least talented player of all three. In
codependency, Art is the one who tends to fall.
To whom do they put their
love?
To make it clear: Patrick
loves Art, Art loves Tashi, and Tashi loves tennis. Patrick is the first
person who taught Art how to jerk off, hence why he uses sex to manipulate Art.
Patrick not only hooks up with Tashi, but he also uses it as an excuse to put down
Art. It creates insecurity for Art.
Art and Patrick say the same sentence to Tashi, “It’s gonna
make you angry.” But they deliver it in different ways. Art says it quietly,
fear of being unloved. Patrick says it casually, almost like teasing. This
happens because Art views Tashi as a God-like figure and worships her as if
she’s Jesus. Patrick—in contrast—sees Tashi as a human being with flaws. He
sees her as a human first, tennis player second—while Art does the exact
opposite.
Going back to the first sentence on this topic. Zendaya
said in an interview with IMDb that tennis is everything for Tashi, hence why
her commitment is strong. Tashi loves tennis more than anything. Even when she’s
married with a daughter, she still feels like a gifted kid burnout who’s
haunted by the dream of becoming the greatest tennis player. Does Tashi know
that Taylor Swift wrote a song for her called “this is me trying”?
Tashi has a different background from Art and Patrick. She
has no other option, she wants to be great or nothing. When she gets injured,
she just accepts it and moves on. Deep down, she’s never really healed from
that wound. She then projected the burden onto her partner, demanding him to achieve
her unachieved dream.
Let me quote this from a Challengers review on Medium: Her
character reminded me so much of those parents who never got to fulfill their
own personal dreams, and then make it their life’s mission to live vicariously through
their children. She pushed Art to win Grand Slams because she never got to, and
when he wasn’t winning anymore, she gave up on him. I agree with that take
because if you don’t have enough satisfaction with yourself, why would you
start a family?
Tashi sees Art as a loser. She warns him to please don’t
embarrass her just like that Sabrina Carpenter song “Please Please Please”. I
want to quote another paragraph from the same review text on Medium: Patrick may have been ranked far lower than Art,
but at least Tashi held him in higher regard, and clearly couldn’t stay away
from him. I don’t think she respected him, necessarily, but I do think she
recognized a similar passion in him that Art was always missing. In the
trailer, Patrick says to Art, “It’s nice to see you lit up about something,
even if it’s my girlfriend.” I honestly don’t think Art could’ve had the
success he did without Tashi constantly pushing him.
Technical aspects
The nonlinear plot isn’t confusing at all, it effectively
works for the storytelling development. At first, I have no idea who the
characters are and what they’ve been up to. Then, I’m invested in this drama.
From one opened layer to another, it’s interesting to see three people who
never really get over each other.
Despite its eye-pleasing visuals, another thing I’d give
credit for is the camera angle that depicts a triangle. When they’re happy
together, they’re in the same frame, and their positions look like a triangle.
As the tension is tensioning, the screen splits, focusing on each other’s faces.
The scoring by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross supports this tension of intimacy
and rivalry. Also, I want to give credit to the makeup and hairdo team. They
make the characters look convincing from their teenage looks to their adult
looks.
Humanity, defined by movies
(including this one)
As I grow older, I begin to realize that my favorite movie
genre is the one with complicated characters and explores the complexity of
human life. Maybe I just have this Gen Z in me because they say Gen Z is an
“embracing relatability” generation.
A typical hero main character seems irrelevant to me. Yeah
they’re cool and everything, so what? What if I find myself never being like
that cool-ass character, instead of feeling inspired? I prefer the anti-hero
main character who’s as messy as me, as proof that I feel seen, that people like
me actually exist—even if it’s only validated in fiction.
Challengers
is an example of this. Some people are siding with one character and villainizing
the others. But honestly, maturing is realizing three of them are all the same,
they’re fucked in the head! And I hate that somehow, I can see myself in each
of them. What a sick way to say, “They're just like me fr.” Zendaya even said, “The challenge with a character is not
necessarily justifying their actions, but always making them feel human enough to
empathize with their decisions.”
That’s why I never really leave hard feelings against
people, I mean we’re just humans after all. To understand humans is to grow empathy.
Humans are THAT difficult to understand, and I’m a part of humans. I’m not trying
to associate this with some sort of philosophical level, but I guess this is
what they call humanity.
What’s the ending is really
about?
At the end of the film, they’ve found each other. Patrick comes back to Art, Art gives what
Tashi craves, and Tashi watches some good fucking tennis. COME ON! The
winner isn’t being announced because it doesn’t really matter. What matters is
they got their own version of a happy ending. The ending is open to interpretation.
It could be ambiguous, perhaps they go back to the hotel room.
I agree with Josh. He said, “They’ve been all searching for a way and getting it terribly wrong,
searching for a way to satisfy that need, that hunger for each other. And
they’re all trying to find their way in different ways. For Art, maybe it’s
getting out of tennis and being with the family, reconnecting with his wife.
For Tashi, it’s finding that satisfaction in tennis that she lost by having her
career stunted. For Patrick, it’s also finding that feeling of flow when he was
playing tennis with Art as a youngster, or watching Tashi playing tennis as a
youngster.”
This film leaves an impressive impression on me. The acting
is on point, the scenes are sensual, and the soundtrack is killing it. The view
is incredible, I wish I could see it on IMAX. At its core, this film is about humanity: humanizing humans in their messiest form.
A solid 8/10 from me.
References:
Screenshots
from Letterboxd
Pictures
from Pinterest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challengers_(film)
https://youtu.be/QRKYU7dHy4U?si=L8dGUOmoTFyi-Fqv
https://youtu.be/cWqWucj3k2I?si=0gzTec3PPNUeSixY
https://youtu.be/MO1NGHaWQFU?si=c89T_pBltznDSxbr
https://youtu.be/-qltCHwMZZ8?si=YkRCFCx24v76U-md
https://ew.com/challengers-ending-explained-luca-guadagnino-zendaya-mike-faist-josh-o-connor-8639336
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