Challengers

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

Written by: Justin Kuritzkes

Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) a former teenage tennis prodigy, whose career was ended by injury, is now a tennis obsessed coach to her husband Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). Suffering a loss of form, Art has found himself in the final of a low ranking challenger event, his opponent jobbing pro Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor). But he’s no normal opponent, not only was he once Art’s best friend, growing up on the tennis circuit together, he was also Tashi’s former lover. As the match unfolds, we look back at how the three met and how Tashi’s obsession with tennis and the men’s obsession with her impacted them all.

This is a classic femme fatale story, brilliantly executed by Luca Guadagnino. It’s one of those “they don’t make them like that anymore” kind of films, full of tension, drive and sdesire.

The film is built around a wonderful performance from Zendaya. She creates a character who is obsessive and driven, her obsession, rather than money or power, is Tennis, as she says “it’s always about the tennis”. She knows her talent and her looks gives her power over others and Art and Patrick are only too happy to fall under her spell. Faist and O’Connell make the perfect foil for Zendaya’s performance. Faist’s Art, like a puppy, keen for her adulation, let’s her live her tennis career through him. Patrick the “bad boy” has talent, thinks he’s her peer, but never is. Both are just tools for her use.

It looks great, often feeling like an ad for beautiful things and quite the advert for tennis. The tennis recreation is breathtaking, capturing the intensity, speed and power of the sport, using CGI to put you in the heart of the action and is a core part of  building tension.

At times it feels a little self indulgent and maybe runs a little long. But that’s a minor quibble.

Challengers is a classic femme fatale story. Built around a towering central Zendaya performance, full of desire and determination. It looks great, the tennis recreation breathtaking and all used to create a taught, tense and intriguing story.