In Luca Guadagnino’s steamy “Challengers,” the love triangle between Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist is constantly at match point. With one stroke, someone is about to get tossed out of the game. With a pounding score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, brilliantly mixed by Boys Noize, this modern version of “Jules and Jim” with a “Carnal Knowledge” twist features terrific performances, unyielding tension, and chronic energy.
The film opens in 2006 at the US Open, where we meet teenage best friends Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). They just won the junior doubles title and are now in the stands pining over the same girl, rising tennis star Tashi Duncan (Zendaya).
“She’s going to turn a whole family into millionaires,” states Patrick. She’ll have a fashion line, a foundation,” he adds before the two men (using that term loosely) decide to approach her at a post-game mixer.
Art compliments Tashi, “You were incredible today” while Art suggests she hang with them later. Without skipping a beat, she comments, “Want me to tuck you in?” The playful dialogue leads to the infamous hotel scene in the trailer as Tashi sits between Patrick and Art on a bed. What happens next is pure Guadagnino. Remember the peach scene with Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer in the director’s 2017 film “Call Me by Your Name”? It’s tame compared to the erotogenic energy of O’Connor, Zendaya, and Faist that culminates in a sea of slithering tongues as the viewer loses track of who’s kissing who until they don’t. No peaches required, but a peach emoji would be appropriate.
The timeline jumps around as Tashi switches lovers, going back and forth between Art and Patrick. When her career is sidelined by a knee injury, she becomes Art’s coach, kicking Patrick to the curb. Tashi is mesmerizing while making boss moves, turning off and on her sensuality with ease as if she’s flicking a light switch. She’s cold, calculating, and cruel. For her, lovemaking and tennis are both sports and 100% business. Zendaya delivers a tour de force performance.
Written by Justin Kuritzkes, who was inspired by Roger Federer and his wife Mirka, ‘Challengers’ pivots the dynamic between Art and Patrick as one becomes a successful champ just shy of a career Grand Slam, the other navigating a world of declined cards, one-night stands, and hunger pains. Faist is pitch-perfect as the insecure yet talented pro. Husband material. But it’s O’Connor who ignites the screen as the film’s incendiary element, ready to start devastating fires when the time comes. To reference “Star Wars,” the scene where Vader tells Obi-Wan, “I was but a learner, now I am the master,” seems fitting as Patrick crosses paths with Tashi in the third act. Of course, if anyone is the villain in this story, it’s the Machiavellian Tashi.
Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s tennis scenes, which range from slow-motion to full-throttle POV shots, are thrilling to watch. Without the drama from the story, you’d be left with a noteworthy sports film.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross unleash the best film score so far this year. It’s pounding EDM house music with elements of Nine Inch Nails, mixed by German artist and producer Boys Noize (chosen by Reznor and Ross). The first time I heard it during the opening tennis match, I was taken aback, but wow, Guadagnino uses it brilliantly, cranking it up, resulting in unbridled energy that becomes the film’s signature sound.
“Challengers” may be the biggest surprise of the year. Despite a few predictable moments, we get three mature performances from the exceptional cast and a perfectly balanced sports drama and character-driven indie film.
(3 ½ stars)
Now showing in theaters
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