Luca Guadagnino continues to get adoring press but is a director I have not previously warmed to. In his latest, Challengers, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor star as Art Donaldson and Patrick Zweig, best friends who are up and coming tennis players taking part in the junior events at the U.S. Open. They win the doubles and, on the eve of facing each other in the singles final they meet junior female player Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) and both fall for her.
The story then flip-flops between various times over the next few years as we see how Tashi has to retire through injury and starts coaching Art who goes on to win six grand slams whilst Patrick struggles on the Challenger tour.
It felt like the constant flash forwards/backs were largely there to cover up a paper-thin plot. It is a pretty straightforward love triangle story ending with an inevitable match showdown. The performances of the shallow sports people are all fine but I did not warm to the needy Art, manipulative Tashi, or smug and complacent Patrick.
The depiction of the tennis tour and most of the action seemed fairly realistic until the final few points of the climatic match when it became totally absurd. Predictably, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score is terrific but it feels slapped onto the action in a haphazard way, at inappropriate times.
Challengers has been a critical and commercial hit, but I found it to be little more than an overheated soap opera.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10