Challengers: Zendaya is the Master of the Game

Yes, this will be a discussion by a big fan!

I saw Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, recently, and I really loved it. It’s such a compelling character study, and it’s so exciting to watch. I highly recommend it to anyone at all who might be interested in watching it!

The central event of the film is the final match of a Challenger tennis tournament that pits Art (Mike Faist) against Patrick (Josh O'Connor). The former is a tennis star who has had a string of recent losses, while the latter is a tennis player whose career never fully took off. From the audience seats of the match between Art and Patrick, Tashi (Zendaya), who is Art’s wife and coach, watches. A series of non-sequential flashbacks reveals the thorny history these three people have with each other. Art and Patrick were childhood friends and doubles tennis partners who met Tashi at a tournament when they were all in their late teens and were instantly smitten by her.

I will not spoil how things unfold between the three as I proceed to sing my praises.

The direction is incredible! It’s unpredictable in a way that keeps audience members’ eyes open and transfixed. There are sequences with quick cuts that have incredible energy. The editing is so rapid, you might miss a shot if you look away for just a second. This echoes how a tennis match moves so quickly that your eyes need to be glued to the players.

Additionally, there are different types of long takes that achieve powerful impacts. I remember one long take that was a stationary long shot of one character holding another character in a gesture of comfort. The fixed camera’s refusal to cut let the sorrow of the scene emerge. In a different way, I remember a long take that followed a tennis ball during a round; through what must have been some special effects, possibly CGI, the camera was made to appear to be attached to the ball, giving the lengthy sequence the feeling as if it were from the point of view of the ball. I found that to be such an inventive way to depict a moment in a tennis match. Other long takes involved the camera sliding between characters resting on the side of the court or moving between characters in a room as they argued. I felt as if I were right there with them, the execution of such scenes was so immersive.

The film also uses slow motion at very deliberate moments. A moment in which the slow motion highlights both sweat and a single tear dripping down a character’s face stirred me immensely.

The musical score is phenomenal. It’s absolutely hypnotic. I have adored the work that musicians Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross have done both through the band that Reznor founded, Nine Inch Nails, and through their projects scoring film and television. Their score for this film is amazing, just as their scores for all the films they’ve worked on are.

The screenplay is so compelling. The jumps in time allow information to be revealed in a way that maximizes drama and tension. As the knotty histories of the characters are displayed, the central match between Art and Patrick takes on new layers of meaning. I also adore how the dialogue is so precise and how the script expertly balances text and subtext. Some of the lines are so sharp, they could pierce skin. And sometimes, what is left unsaid between characters is so heavy, the atmosphere thickens with tension.

The directing, music, and writing combine to create a film that is among the sexiest and most seductive films I’ve ever seen. Its eroticism emerges less from any explicit scenes, of which I’d say there are basically none, and almost completely from the atmosphere developed by the writing, music, directing, and of course the acting.

The three central performances are excellent. Both Art and Patrick pulse with desire: desire for victory, desire for Tashi, desire for athletic legacy. The way their desires come across are starkly different. When the men are on the same side, their differing ways of expressing their wants complement each other. When they’re on opposite sides, their differing approaches clash so hard that sparks fly.

Art tries to keep his desires within boundaries that he thinks gives his pursuits a veneer of propriety. In contrast, Patrick is brash and apologetic. He does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. When the two first meet Tashi, Art flirts with her by asking questions that relate to her career goals, while Patrick asks her more personal questions. On the court as they’re facing off, Art maintains his professionalism even when he’s losing, while Patrick swears and breaks his racket.

Faist and O'Connor play their respective characters so well. Faist portrays Art with a look of composure on his face, even during the most stressful situations that the character confronts. O'Connor gives Patrick a glint in the eyes, a mischievous smirk on his face. He’s not afraid to express himself, and he’s absolutely unapologetic.

And then, there’s Tashi, portrayed masterfully by Zendaya. I’m at a loss for words as I try to express how incredible her performance is. She portrays Tashi as a storm of a person. By this, I don’t mean that she’s aggressive or volatile. By this, I mean, you have to be ready for her.

There’s a constant glow of determination in her eyes, no matter what she is doing. As a young tennis player, she has immense skill, and she loses herself on the court. Nothing else matters but her and her opponent. She plays with a focus and ferocity that young Art and Patrick do not seem to possess. Every hit of the ball has the full weight of her being behind it.

Tragically, her promising career is cut short due to a leg injury she suffers during a game at her college. This doesn’t end her involvement in the world of tennis, though; she becomes a coach long before she coaches Art. She watches the central match between Art and Patrick as Art’s coach first and foremost, watching with the closeness of someone who understands the depths and nuances of the sport.

In her capacity as a coach, she still possesses the same determination she did as a player. She is always focused, always strategizing. This isn’t to say that she’s one-note; far from it. While the fire always burns within her, she still conveys affection, romance, and happiness, as well as calm professionalism and fierce defense of herself and the people she associates with. It all depends on context.

I felt as if I could pin down Art and Patrick; they were interesting characters who always held my attention, but I knew, for the most part, what they were about. I couldn’t and still can’t say the same for Tashi, and I love that. As determined and strategic as she is, she allows herself to feel sorrow, pain, and confusion in the moments when she’s by herself, when no one is watching. The moments she’s by herself are among the most compelling scenes in the film for me, not because Zendaya portrays Tashi’s weaknesses, but because she masterfully gives the audience a glimpse into Tashi’s boundless depths. When we see her allow herself to grieve, we get a clue about the sheer strength she possesses in her following scenes. Because we so briefly witness a side of her she doesn’t share with anyone else, we can only imagine the limitless facets she possesses that we will never see.

This is a tightrope walk of a performance. Zendaya performs masterfully. Every dimension of Tashi feels both surprising and believable. Whenever she was on screen, I didn’t know what to expect. In that way, she powerfully complements the elements of the film that surround her that also create a sense of the unexpected, which I’ve described above. Even outside the court, she is the greatest tennis player.

When young Art and Patrick first meet young Tashi, the way she relates with them clearly reveals that they are no match for her. Her formidable determination is such that she can even enact her will on the court from the audience’s seats.

At a pivotal scene in the film, Tashi says that tennis is a relationship. I haven’t stopped thinking about this line. In the context of the film, tennis is a metaphor for the erotic connections between the characters. I have also previously heard tennis and other sports be compared to writing. What is central to these various metaphors, I think, is communication. Just as players hit a ball back and forth, friends and lovers exchange words and gestures. Books, films, and art exchange meaning with their audiences.

Thus, tennis is the central metaphor for the film itself. The film hits the ball at the viewers, expecting them to keep their eyes fixed and hit the ball back. I fell into the film’s groove, its spell, following the paths it had me take. When it was over, I was breathless.

I highly recommend this film to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. If you enjoy sharp direction, clever storytelling, complex characters, incredible performances, I think you’ll love this.