REVIEW: ‘Challengers’: A thrilling power play

In the love-triangle sports drama Challengers, the breathtaking cinematography is as thrilling as the power play transpiring on the screen.

At one point, the camera becomes the tennis ball, smashed back and forth between two rackets, before it pirouettes up in the sky to give us an aerial view of two men engaged in an intense tennis match.

On the surface, it’s just a game. But a lot is at stake — not just their careers. Because at this point in the story, the viewer is already aware of their backstory.

The main characters that make up the love triangle are tennis players Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor).

The two boys, bestfriends since childhood, fall in love with the prodigy Tashi in their teens.

But the love triangle is not merely sparked by attraction, or teenage hormones. It is made complex by flattery, vanity, and narcissism, because they all play the same sport. And when these things come into play, they spur jealousy, manipulation, and power play (sexual and otherwise). Tactics, control, mind games, and getting the upper hand boil and simmer among the three.

Tashi is a tennis celebrity, and the two boys are her major fans and romantic admirers. She is tickled by the drooling attention of “two white boys” desperately pining and fighting for her. And although she keeps joking that she is not a “homewrecker,” she is obviously giddy about the idea of ruining their years-long friendship.

Art and Patrick are straight men, in my perspective. The impassioned rivalry between them is just sprinkled with a dash of homosexual curiosity and mutual admiration for one another. It’s just that the arrival of the megalomaniac Tashi injected into their friendship — and their sport — a whole ‘nother level of competition.

Italian director Luca Guadagnino, known for his commercial breakthrough Call Me By Your Name, crafted a riveting cinematic love triangle within the realm of professional tennis, thanks to first-time feature screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’ compelling story and Guadagnino’s masterful visual language executed by the brilliant DoP, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.

Employing slow-mos, creative and unexpected camera angles, the cinematography is never pretentious or gimmicky. Just bold, inspired and uninhibited.

Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s club-culture soundtrack is another highlight of the film. The music may be a little manipulative, obviously slapped onto sequences to amplify the excitement of the games (both the sport and the romance). But it is very much welcome.

Techno beats turn tennis courts into a vibe similar to that of a sweaty underground European rave — then it bleeds into electronic and classical music to spice up what is essentially a chamber drama.

Challengers may be accused of coming off as a long music video, or a commercial ad, for being too stylish. But that is a shallow view of the film. It is actually packed with underlying tension and bristling energy.

Every interaction sizzles with an undercurrent of emotions. A bite into a banana, or a shared churros, for example, or Patrick’s crooked smile, and all the eye contact thrown by the characters, tell a story, or speak volumes. The style just revs up the senses.

This is a story of a love triangle made rich with thematic elements and psychology. There’s the highly successful athlete but who is broke. There’s the child prodigy whose career is cut short by a tragedy. There’s also the mediocre athlete who is obscenely wealthy but is burned out. Class, race, status quo, and ulterior motives also seep into this fun and explosive tale of love and rivalry.

And all of these are not spoon-fed, just observed in plain sight — with hints of delicious ambiguity.

What makes Challengers a genius of a film is its efficiency. It manages to coherently tie up all the narrative layers and hidden feelings into a tight, electrifying, and solid story.

The time-hopping can be a little irritating, but you soon realize that this storytelling device heightens our sense of intrigue.

In one scene, Tashi explains that tennis is not just a contest. You are not just merely playing. But you develop a “relationship” with your opponent. Guadagnino achieves just that — because that is how cinema should be done: building a relationship with your audience.

4 out of 5 stars

Still showing in select Ayala Malls cinemas