I know it’s only April, but CHALLENGERS may be my favorite movie of the year. Between the pulsating Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score, the complex and realistic characters, and, of course, the tennis, I felt sucked into the world that director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes created. It would be fair to say I love it all (cheeky little tennis pun for you).
I started playing tennis in elementary school, but my lack of hand-eye coordination and reluctance to pursue activities I wasn’t immediately good at led me to only play sporadically. About two years ago, though, I picked it up again, and I love it and try to play every opportunity I get. The film CHALLENGERS captures what Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) calls ‘real tennis’ so well. When I play, it’s not about winning or losing but genuinely about both players performing their best. I love the feeling of forgetting the score after a long rally filled with good gets on both sides. That’s also why double-faulting is disappointing; it robs both players of the potential for a good rally. So on a personal note, this is one of the reasons I enjoyed the movie so much—it emphasizes the underlying allure of the game.
That being said, I’ll rephrase what I wrote about last year’s excellent PAST LIVES – It feels somewhat restrictive to call CHALLENGERS a romance or sports movie; this film will go down as a vivid, emotionally rich exploration of human relationships. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist shine in their roles; it’s been a big year for Zendaya with DUNE: PART TWO, a big month for O’Connor with LA CHIMERA, and I’m looking forward to seeing Faist in THE BIKERIDERS later this year.
I can’t wait to watch CHALLENGERS again. In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying the soundtrack and its mixed version by Boys Noize [Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube].
CHALLENGERS is now playing in theaters.
