The Rivermode Film Journal

In Challengers, all the pieces of a great movie are, theoretically, there, but it fails in execution. The film centers on the love triangle between Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor) in a story that spans thirteen years (a fact that this film will not stop reminding you of). Ping-ponging between the present and the past, Justin Kuritzkes unfolds his tale of bisexual love, control and a constant striving for success.

I go to many plays, so the, often obnoxious, voice of the 21st century New York playwright is readily apparent. This is certainly not Janet Planet where, for as much as it was not for me, it plays cinematically, it has a strong singular voice. Challengers disappears into the total vapidity that has thoroughly rotted the modern theatre scene. I hate to see it infecting film as well, but it was only really a matter of time (and one could argue it took hold a Long time ago).

The idea of tennis as sex is fairly novel, but the deployment of innuendo is never subtle enough to be sexy, and, simultaneously, not played up in a way where it works comedically. It attempts to straddle a line that doesn’t exist, and in that pursuit, falls into a null space where the novelty ends up being just that. This should be fun, but as is typical with Guadagnino, any fun that could be had is buried under fatigued pacing and a general air of self-seriousness. It’s not quite as omnipresent as it has been in his previous few features (Suspiria, Bones and All), but it is still quite the problem. I can appreciate the fact that Guadagnino was, finally, trying some things in the climax, but the fact it falls That flat is a testament to his total lack of artistic ability. Did they need a title card every time they cut back in time? I heard you the first time. Is Guadagnino’s trust in the audience really That low?

I found a lot of the cutting to be almost Rhapsody-esque in the total jaggedness of its rhythms. Particularly in conversational scenes it felt quite abrupt and awkward, cutting any tension that could have existed. The score amplifies this awkwardness, always overbearing and often ill-fitting. Disappointing, as I am quite the fan of Reznor and Ross, but this is quite easily the weakest of their film work, not that Guadagnino does their score any favors. This being shot by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, the lighting is consistently beautiful, I wish I could say the same about the compositions, but I’m guessing he had less say there. 

Zendaya neither has the strength nor the force of presence to pull off the role she’s given. Tashi is a character that does not often speak, but when she does all I see is Zendaya stumbling through a line-reading (and those lines are not worth the obvious struggle). The work from Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor is admirable, and their chemistry is palpable, but it’s in service of material that gives them absolutely nothing. It’s almost painful watching them struggle to imbue these blank slates with any kind of personality. Since they already had them on set, why couldn’t they have just made this a 131-minute conversation between the two? It would’ve been far more entertaining, interesting and valuable than this ended up being.

Ultimately with Challengers you are left with a director without a particularly good grasp of visual language working with a script by a “current” playwright. It’s a disaster, but it’s easy to see a version of this where it isn’t one. That, to me, is what makes this film somewhat tragic.

1.5/5

---

The one thing Guadagnino gets Really right is sweat. These kinds of films have been lacking in moisture lately, but there are buckets here.

Also, I like the tennis ball shot, it’s silly in a way I wish the rest of the film was.