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Luca Guadagnino's tennis drama Challengers is all flash and no follow-through

By Josh Bell

Apr 25, 2024

There's a shot during the centerpiece threesome scene in Challengers — the one that's been promoted in all the trailers — of young tennis star Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) looking on with devious glee as her fellow tennis player suitors Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) engage in carnal conduct for her pleasure. Her confident, casual manipulation during that scene suggests a more twisted psychosexual drama that Challengers never delivers, instead settling for a fairly pedestrian sports movie presented in a distractingly garish style...

Luca Guadagnino's tennis drama Challengers is all flash and no follow-through

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