Zendaya’s new film Challengers is as horny and homoerotic as expected, but with a lot more depth

The three lead stars give powerhouse performances in Luca Guadagnino’s sensual and sun-soaked tennis romance drama Challengers.

There is a scene towards the end of where Art Donaldson, played by West Side Story’s Mike Faist, begs his cold, cutthroat wife Tashi (Spider-Man regular Zendaya) to tell him that it “doesn’t matter” if he wins the film’s central match against his former friend, Patrick Zweig (God’s Own Country star Josh O’Connor).

And for us watching, it really doesn’t. Challengers might be a tennis film at its core, but it’s one of few sports dramas where the outcome of the match is the least interesting thing about it. It’s the dynamics of those three central characters, and how their lives messily interweave with one another over the course of 13 years, that keeps up watching.

Guadagnino’s new film follows Tashi, a former teen tennis pro who had her career brutally cut short by a knee injury. She’s married to Art, a tennis champion whose passion for the game has dwindled, as have his winning streak, his reputation, his relationship, and the light in his eyes.

Enter Patrick, a snide, unremarkable fellow player making ends meet using the stipends from simply playing the games, rather than winning them: if he can pick up a small cheque from losing a first-round match and pay his hotel bill, then he’s happy.

Beginning in 2019 and springing back and forth between then and 2006, we learn how the trio met, and how they went from sprightly youths to the jaded, affected 30-somethings they’ve become. Art and Patrick have known each other since they were pre-teens, the latter taught the former to masturbate, we learn uncomfortably.

As they grew, so did their tennis potential, and it’s here that they meet the young, haughty Tashi on the precipice of athletic stardom.

Cue Challengers’ crown jewel: the kiss scene. Working her two “little white boys” like a mischievous puppeteer, she allows them the privilege of kissing her neck – if only to coerce them into kissing each other. It’s the most explicitly erotic scene, but believe the hype: this is a film fizzing with sexual tension.

“This is tennis reimagined as an under-the-sheets activity”

It’s in every backhand grunt, every flexed muscle, every piece of phallic fruit knowingly consumed in front of one another (if you’ve seen Call Me By Your Name, you’ll know Guadagnino’s history with fruit). Even Challengers’ first scene begins with Art’s sweat raining down from his face in spectacular detail. This is tennis reimagined as an under-the-sheets activity.

The simmering carnality isn’t the only Guadagnino hallmark present. The film feels set through a sun-kissed filter, even scenes set in wind storms seem like the product of an endless August. It’s stylish and sleek, with intricate focus on the tiny moments that make the world beautiful: heads turning in sync, or shirts left unbuttoned on a summer evening.

Most notable is the complexities of the three characters. On the surface, Tashi is ruthless and controlling, living vicariously and bitterly through her husband’s career. But Zendaya manages an astonishing acting feat, wearing the trauma of her injury a dozen years before on her face throughout. It’s arguably the hardest role she’s ever played.

Patrick is manipulative and shameless, but he is so because he’s got nothing else to be. Art appears bullied into near silent servitude, but behind the quiet, it’s clear he’s already arrived in a post-Tashi-Patrick world. It’s a fascinating watch.

Challengers isn’t perfect. The frequent time jumps, though necessary for the plot, occasionally feel distracting. At 130 minutes long, this horny romp goes slightly limp about three-quarters of the way through.

That’s temporary though, and the flaws are minor. We’re back and stimulated as the big match at the end begins. Who wins? Film fans, that’s who. 

Challengers is in cinemas now.