Challengers

Mike Faist, Zendaya, and Josh O'Connor

Luca Guadagnino's Challengers is a watchable love triangle set in the world of professional tennis. Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes gave Guadagnino a script attuned to the director's chief thematic concern: the mating rituals and attendant power moves of ambisexual youth. Rising stars Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor are more than fine as doubles partners turned romantic rivals, but it is Zendaya who is the true focal point of the film. For a young performer, she brings an impressive imperiousness to the role of a tennis queen bee. Ultimately, she pairs with the more compliant male drone rather than the exciting bad boy. Complications, of course, ensue. 

The picture is a slick soap opera with nary an important supporting character. The tennis scenes, amped by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' techno score, are ludicrously pumped up for the video game and Red Bull set, but give the flick a thumping energy. The film postulates tennis as a metaphor for sexual gamesmanship with attendant volleys and strokes. I found that there was precious little to chew once the film ended, Challengers is all surface, but the lead trio makes the film diverting, if not memorable.