Challengers Movie Review: This intense and intimate tennis drama almost serves up an ace

Challengers also has brilliant world-building, which extends to even the off-court action. We initially see Art, married to Tashi, waking up at the Ritz Hotel to a routine charted out with a choreographed workout and a restricted diet with even a bottled drink labelled ‘Electrolytes’. On the contrary, we see a hungry Patrick, just up from his sleep in the car, borrowing half a doughnut from someone he just met. While these parallels are thought-worthy enough, we get another flashback moment in which Patrick tells Art, “Tashi Duncan is gonna turn her whole family into millionaires,” and Art later ends up living just that life. In another scene, after Patrick and Art play the first set of the Challenger match, the film takes us back to a time when Tashi meets Patrick before the finale match. In a different context, Tashi says, “You typically stagger around the second round,” hinting at how he gets overconfident if he wins the first set. This eventually comes true, as he falters in the second set after winning the first one in the match against Art. If observed and understood keenly, this staging and the callbacks add immense value to the film’s narrative.

Challengers is abundant with scenes of coitus and intense lovemaking akin to the sexual exploration featured in Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, a different genre film. These scenes are placed at the right intervals to take your mind away from the monotony of tennis. Guadagnino gets us quite gripped in the world of tennis, but he also carefully distracts us away from it in a good way. We hear the commentator say, “Code violation, audible obscenity, warning Donaldson,” when Art uses profanity. We also see the usage of jargon like ‘Deuce’ and ‘Advantage’, a focus on Tashi’s backhand stroke, and close attention to how Art and Patrick serve, which makes for a brilliant callback. With these elements, the director ensures that there is enough in the film to appease tennis fans, even as the chemistry and love between the leads keep non-tennis viewers interested in the proceedings.