Review: Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ Is a Highbrow Music Video Experience That Doesn’t Owe You Anything (2024)

Vague Visages’ Challengersreview contains significant spoilers. Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 movie features Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

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Forget what you’ve heard about the alleged “sexiness” of Challengers. Instead, think of Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 film as a highbrow music video experience — a 131-minute Hollywood spectacle that masquerades as a traditional sports movie. Set in the world of professional tennis from 2006 to 2019, Challengers explores the sexual power dynamics between three athletes: Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist). The film’s score — courtesy of Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and his longtime collaborator Atticus Ross — elevates both bedroom and match sequences by poking and prodding the audience with stylized reaction shots via cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. Crucially, if Guadagnino released a highly condensed cut of Challengers featuring only the glossy musical sequences, the key themes and essential character details could still be understood by casual viewers: Tashi, a mixed-race tennis prospect who ultimately marries a star (Art) and lives a glamorous lifestyle, still feels compelled to slum around and get down with the broke and hungry Patrick. But why? A film designed as a long-form music video doesn’t need heavy exposition to reach its ultimate truth, as Challengers communicates the most important facts through sound design, reaction shots and shared character moments.

Vulture’s Angelica Jade Bastién — a former Vague Visages contributor — states that Challengers “doesn’t actually give a sh*t about race” before asking this question: “Do you think white people are comfortable with Black women’s actual, fully embodied anger?” First of all, some film critics need to stop approaching every movie with agendas involving race and gender. Judge movies for what they are — not what you want them to be. But let’s talk about the racial elements in Challengers, as Guadagnino cleverly buries them beneath his social commentary about class dynamics. Patrick, a scheming and perpetually broke character, very much resents being pushed out of Tashi’s upscale lifestyle. In fact, during the characters’ first conversation, Tashi’s father (Naheem Garcia) pulls her away. Later, Patrick receives a much-needed meal from a Black woman — a former line judge. By the final act, O’Connor’s protagonist (or antihero) makes a hom*ophobic comment to a different Black character — also a line judge. Patrick also provokes Tashi during an argument by making a sexual remark about her Black mother. So, is this guy actually a low-key racist? I don’t think so. Patrick simply feels jealous of Tashi and Art’s lifestyle, as it’s revealed — through a brief line of dialogue in Challengers’ second half — that he comes from a privileged (“spoiled”) background. Also, Tashi’s daughter, Lily (A.J. Lister), states that she wants to watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) — a film about a mixed-race superhero. She knows nothing about Patrick’s lifestyle of ground-level bars and sleeping in parking lots, let alone his unprocessed feelings of shame and anger (which he subconsciously links to Black people through Tashi and her family). Challengers doesn’t give a sh*t about race, Angelica? I disagree. Guadagnino simply prioritizes a social commentary about class dynamics. Challengers addresses the topic of race in the same way that Call Me by Your Name (2018) and Bones and All (2022) address the issue: the core racial elements sit below the wider social commentary.

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A local Fargo-Moorhead film critic recently complained to me about Challengers’ unlikable protagonists. From my perspective, the music video-style approach eliminates the need for “save the cat” moments that would make Tashi, Patrick and Art more appealing as human beings. Personally, I can’t relate to people who moan about the decisions made by fictional movie characters. Sure, Patrick is a dipsh*t, but he merely wants what he can’t have (which is relatable). As for Art, he’s borderline pathetic at times, and yet he rises above his worst moments by prioritizing his family (also relatable) and standing up to Patrick. And Tashi — well, she correlates the worst moment of her life (a career-ending injury) to a major fight with O’Connor’s character. She’s fundamentally drawn to him through their history of shared moments (relatable). During a flashback hook-up scene, Tashi first turns away from Patrick before kissing Art. Later, she calls out O’Connor’s character for his woe-is-me bullsh*t (super relatable). Tashi also references Patrick’s “big dick” (OMG, so relatable). Sadly, they live in different worlds. So, when Patrick lashes out at a Black line judge, it’s arguably because he’s jealous of Tashi and the lifestyle that she was able to create for her (Black) parents. O’Connor’s character isn’t racist — he’s just pissed off and needs a break. Meanwhile, Tashi feels the same way for different reasons. She relates to Patrick because he’s been knocked down and keeps getting up… just like her. Again, Challengers very much gives a sh*t about race.

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Matt Zoller Zeitz — a Vague Visages contributor — recently wrote for Vulture that Zendaya is a “gestural, reactive performer.” This is spot-on. Zendaya is believable as a professional tennis player in Challengers, and I fully buy her as a scheming seductress, evidenced by Tashi’s philandering and sexual teasing (see her on-court and bedroom stretches — the character fully understands how she is perceived, both within the industry and pop culture, much like the lead actress herself, as Seitz points out in “The Coiled Ferocity of Zendaya”). However, the aforementioned Bastién claims that Zendaya’s physicality in Challengers “doesn’t change throughout the movie,” and that Guadagnino’s film is “supposed to be a very physical movie.” Again, it’s a relationship drama with music video aesthetics — not a traditional sports production. The best acting moments emerge through Tashi’s stiff body reactions and Patrick’s sly grins. That is the game being played. Tashi even describes tennis as “a relationship.” She’s a seductress with elite street smarts — a woman who needs that give-and-take sexual teasing (and healing). Her husband, Art, doesn’t provide that. He’s a hopeless romantic and gets easily flustered while targeting “the points that matter.” On the other hand, Patrick realizes how much a well-timed grin or a side-eye stare could affect Tashi and Art’s relationship. Zendaya is undoubtedly Challengers’ main attraction, but it’s arguably O’Connor who provides the best performance with his multi-layered interpretation of an emotionally damaged man who relies on charm as a metaphorical backhand. Patrick resents Tashi’s “country club” lifestyle and will play dirty, Andy Roddick-style, to accomplish his goals. One could argue that Challengers’ male protagonists come across as too immature during flashback sequences, but such moments effectively set up the most explosive romantic scenes later on — a showcase for O’Connor’s versatility as an actor. He shifts gears seamlessly.

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Challengers, with its unorthodox storytelling approach and clever editing (courtesy of Marco Costa), will cause many moviegoers to miss crucial details. A second viewing, however, will likely be rewarding (as it was for me). Given the music video-style directorial approach, it’s impressive that Guadagnino and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes managed to present Tashi, Patrick and Art as archetypal characters while slipping in important background details that explain their motivations. Patrick works as Challengers’ primary villain because his “spoiled” background is mostly unclear throughout the film. What’s most important, however, is how he plays both Tashi and Art through — no pun intended — the art of conversational bullsh*t and Big Dick Energy. O’Connor is so effective with his Challengers performance that he’s already convinced the world — evidenced by social media reactions — that Patrick is just a slimy asshole and nothing more. Look a little deeper and one will find truth in the racial elements that essentially provide the narrative foundation for Guadagnino’s high-brow commentary on class dynamics.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

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