From its steamy trailer to Zendaya’s tennis-themed press tour wardrobe, Challengers became one of the most talked-about movies of 2024 even before its release.
And the romantic sports drama has not failed to disappoint as leading stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist have captured viewers with their messy on-screen love triangle.
Underscored by a thumping electronic soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and his collaborator Atticus Ross, the movie artfully brings together sport and romance into one tense storyline with high stakes.
Its success has certainly been proven in the box office as it became the number one movie in America in its opening weekend, raking in a massive $15million (AUD20million).
Challengers has seen director Luca Guadagnino secure his biggest box office opening, while it also marks a major milestone for Zendaya as her first lead role.
From its steamy trailer to Zendaya’s tennis-themed press tour wardrobe, Challengers became one of the most talked about movies of 2024 before its release (Zendaya is pictured in the film)
Critics have heaped praise on the steamy tennis movie as they noted it is ‘bristling with sexual tension’ and ‘hugely entertaining’ in a string of rave reviews.
The love triangle drama sees Zendaya star as tennis superstar Tashi Duncan, who turns to coaching after being forced to give up on her dreams due to a knee injury.
She is forced to pursue her tennis dreams vicariously through her best friend Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), who she coaches and goes on to fall in love with and marry.
The movie kicks off with Tashi counselling Art back into action after an injury as he faces off against Tashi’s ex-boyfriend and his former best friend Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) on the court.
The movie jumps between the career-deciding tennis face-off and 13 years before, when Tashi first met best friends Art and Patrick and their lives became forever intertwined.
The romantic sports drama has not failed to disappoint as leading stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist captured viewers with their on-screen messy love triangle
With the stakes just as high off the court, Tashi’s feelings become conflicted at Patrick’s sudden reappearance at the Challenger Tour as their fractured relationships are delved into.
Viewers are clued in on the trio’s intertwined relationships in the flashbacks, as they share a racy three-way kiss in a pivotal scene, kicking off the start of their messy bisexual love triangle.
Tashi then promises to give her number to whoever wins in their first tennis face-off, hinting at the competitive and driven drama viewers should expect from then on.
Art and Patrick are then set up as rivals for Tashi’s affections, whilst sharing their own fair share of charged moments, as they try and balance their love lives with a hunger for success as tennis pros.
The artfully complex movie delves into the deep emotional ties between the three entangled characters and how they are all willing to do what it takes for their moment of tennis glory.
Its success has certainly shown in the box office as it became the number one movie in America in its opening weekend, raking in a massive $15million (pictured: Zendaya and Mike)
With everything leading up to the pivotal final match, even non-tennis fans will find themselves rooting for the stakes both on and off the court in a ‘game, set, love match’ dynamic.
Framed perfectly in the nail-biting sporting showdown, the ending shows how love conquers all as the three tennis pros reconnect and get what they truly need from the sport and each other.
Throughout the movie, all three sides of the messy love triangle intertwine in true bisexual representation, with writer Justin Kuritzkes himself discussing the dynamics.
‘What’s true about a love triangle is that every love triangle is, by its nature, queer,’ he told Variety.
‘Whether you intend to be or not, you’re in an intimate relationship with two other people.’
Challengers has seen director Luca Guadagnino secure his biggest box office opening, while it also marks a major milestone for Zendaya (pictured) as her first lead role
Of the three leading characters, he added to NBC News: ‘There is something that’s unlocked once Tashi enters the picture, where the desire is flowing in all directions in ways that are confusing for everybody.’
Dishing on the love triangle set-up, director Luca recently revealed that the now-famous three-way kiss scene wasn’t originally in the script.
‘We discussed at length with Justin the concept that the triangle needs to flesh out the possibility that all the corners touch — that if you’re jealous of someone, you’re not jealous of your partner, you’re jealous also not to be picked by the rival,’ he told Entertainment Weekly.
‘You want to be the object of the affection of the rival, so you’re jealous of not being part of it as much as you are jealous of your partner being chosen.’
Challengers was author and playwright Justin’s first screenplay and originally had no star power involved, before he finally managed to get it brought to screen.
Critics have heaped praise on the steamy tennis movie in a string of rave reviews, and particularly praised Zendaya’s leading performance as driven tennis pro Tashi Duncan
In 2021, it landed on the Black List – a round-up of the most popular unproduced Hollywood scripts – which helped him sell it to producers Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor.
He then brought on Zendaya and Call Me By Your Name producer Luca, and despite its slow beginnings, it has become the most talked about movie of 2024 so far.
In an absolute knockout, Challengers has already scored an 89 per cent rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while fans have given it a ranking of 76 per cent.
In the United States, Challengers has raked in $15million and became the most watched movie over the weekend, while it has also soared to global success.
It has topped the UK-Ireland box office with a £1.5million (US$2million) debut, seeing Amy Winehouse’s biopic Back to Black drop down into second place.
In an absolute knockout, Challengers has already scored an 89 per cent rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while fans have given it a ranking of 76 per cent
Critics have given Challengers a string of rave reviews, with the Daily Mail’s Brian Viner describing the ‘smash’ movie as a ‘bright, sexy and witty tennis love triangle’.
Giving it a four-star rating, he said: ‘It’s bright, sexy, witty and fun, and says enough about the demands of elite tennis and how it affects relationships to be considered a bona fide sports film, even though — and this is a double-fisted backhanded compliment — it’s really just about a love match.’
The movie was also praised for being a ‘slick, sexy, hugely entertaining tennis romantic triangle’ by Ty Burr from The Washington Post.
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney said the film is ‘smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension’, adding: ‘Challengers is arguably Luca Guadagnino’s most purely pleasurable film to date; it’s certainly his lightest and most playful.’
With a perfectly devised instrumental score to amp up the drama on and off the tennis court, the movie artfully brings together sport and romance into one tense storyline with high stakes
David Sims from The Atlantic praised the film for being ‘far more thrilling, and triumphant, than a simple tale of someone lifting a trophy, or love conquering all’.
Zendaya’s show-stealing role as complex and driven tennis pro Tashi has also been widely praised, as Amy Nicholson from The Los Angeles Times said her performance ‘slices through the noise’.
Director Luca also praised Zendaya’s talents in working with tennis pro and former player Brad Gilbert to perfectly encapsulate the movements needed on the court.
Luca told Variety: ‘She’s wonderful. I mean, wow. We edited the movie and we almost actually don’t use any of her double. She’s so good.
As well as soaring to success in the box office, Zendaya’s incredible themed press tour wardrobe has also amazed fans, which prompted further discussion about the epic movie
He added that ‘all three leads spent like three months working very hard – technically, athletically’ as he similarly praised Josh and Mike for their dedication.
Zendaya also dished on what it was like working with Josh and Mike, and discussed how they managed to build the effortless chemistry which shines through on screen.
She told The Sun: ‘How do you build the chemistry? Well, I think I got lucky that they’re both just lovely guys. They were kind and generous with their work and their time, so that made it easy.’
Needless to say their dedication has paid off, as Challengers has won big and easily secured its place as the sexiest and most talked about movie of 2024 so far.
