This story contains spoilers for The Challengers. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look yet, check out our spoiler free review,
Love triangles as old as time, but Challengers’ The central entanglement offers a new spin on the cliché. We still get two guys trying to outdo each other to get a girl’s attention, but she’s not looking for the best guy to fulfill her white-picket fence fantasy. Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan wants greatness. She demands this from herself and those who want to be in her company. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Luca Guadagnino’s film is more about Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Feist)’s relationship with each other than their relationship with Tashi, but the dynamic works. Because Tashi doesn’t do it. I don’t love any of them. He likes tennis. and this is He Love that leads all three of them to the emotional connection they seek.
The film moves between timelines, following the trio through college and into their professional careers, examining their changing power dynamics as Patrick and Art face off in the adult timeline to compete in the US Open. It’s so refreshing to see a female character, especially at the center of a romantic movie, whose primary objective isn’t to find a husband and start a family. Tashi has never been in doubt about what inspires him. Art and Patrick are so distracted by their dreams and desires that they are unable to hear what she is saying.
At the beginning of the film, the two catch up with her on the beach after her celebration of winning the junior tournament, after which she reveals all this to them. “You don’t know what tennis is,” she tells the boys, “it’s a relationship.” She further explains how her last match was like being in love and that she and her opponent “went to some beautiful place together.” Tashi is chasing the height of a perfect volley, while Art and Patrick spend the film trying to change that rush for her.
Patrick thinks he’s the initial winner when he beats Art in his own Junior Championship finals the day after the beach party and gets Tashi’s number but, the thing is, Tashi’s attraction to Art at that point in the movie It has nothing to do with how he feels. About that. When she realizes he is trying to manipulate her, she immediately scolds him – “What makes you think I want someone to love me?” – But Art is working to become a better tennis player, while Patrick is at a low level. Ranked on the Pro Circuit. That is why Tashi entertains with the antics of art. When Patrick tells her to stop talking about tennis, Tashi loses interest and their relationship quickly deteriorates. A few hours later, she tears up her knee and Art is there to dry her tears and pick up the pieces of her broken heart.
After his personal aspirations were destroyed, Tashi turned to coaching. She can’t stay away from sports. Patrick temporarily fades into the background and Art moves on to become the engine of Tashi’s new dream. He realizes that establishing himself as a better boyfriend is not a good move, so he vows to become a better tennis player. This is the moment when Kala understands Tashi the most, but it is also his downfall.
The trick of art works for a while. She and Tashi get married and have a child. He has a foundation and a lot of money. He becomes a very good professional tennis player, almost great, but he grows tired and eventually wants to quit tennis before his promise to Tashi to reach her dream can be fulfilled. When Tashi realizes that he is giving up, her affection diminishes.
Challengers is not a film for those with a weak stomach for infidelity. If this movie had been about either Patrick or Art finding love with Tashi, it probably would have made more sense to see how she bounces between the two. But there’s a reason you see the moment when she agrees to train Art but you never see footage of their wedding. Kala is upset that Tashi does not find her married life adequate, but Tashi never wants to be the prize. His mission throughout the film is to convince one of these people to want greatness for themselves.
She breaks up with Patrick in the first half of the film because he does not want to talk about tennis and she sees him as a non-serious person. She betrays Art when he announces he wants to quit the game before winning the Open, but the betrayal also makes Patrick lose the match against Art so that Tashi doesn’t have to see her dream postponed again. . When they don’t respect her love, she has no interest in them, and her love is getting too good at the game.
Many people may accuse Tashi of being inappropriate because she is not reciprocating the affection of these men, but the truth is that she is treating them the same way they are treating her. Although she doesn’t love them, she still cares about them. She makes sacrifices for them, especially for art; She encourages them; She inspires them. They aren’t able to give her what she really wants in return, and that frustration turns into resentment for everyone involved.
Each of these relationships comes with conditions. Patrick and Art both love Tashi as long as she brightens them up or makes them feel better about themselves; Tashi loves them as long as they are striving to be the best, a knee injury causes her to lose the thing she loves most. Art and Patrick both volunteer to be the new ship for her dream at different parts of the film, and when they fail to do the same for her, she sees them as not only disrespectful but , rather she sees them as impotent. Ultimately, they are all using each other for their own benefit. The special thing about Challengers is that no one, not even Tashi, gets punished for this. In fact, they are all rewarded in the film’s closing moments.
We’ve become accustomed to movies that prioritize functional relationships as the end goal. The floor at Challengers is a perfect tennis volley, but it’s also a metaphor for pushing yourself beyond your limits. When you commit wholeheartedly to something, you can become something even greater than yourself. This is a trio of messy, flawed characters, but when they drop their pretense and put their bare souls on the line they too can find magic. It’s really inspiring to think that any of us messy, flawed creatures can achieve real connection when we let go of the fear and resentment and just hit the ball.
The film climaxes at the finals of the Challengers Tournament, which culminates in Patrick and Art competing for a spot at the US Open. By the time they reach Match Point, Art knows that Patrick and Tashi slept together the night before and Patrick knows that Tashi is not going to leave Art for him. And none of it matters. This is where Guadagnino shows his visionary style as a director.
This final sequence is tense and compelling as Art and Patrick pass the ball back and forth. It’s a symphony of grunts, the squeak of sneakers on asphalt and the hollow pang of a rubber tennis ball making contact with a racket. It’s sweaty but also sexy as Art and Patrick finally reach the level of tennis that Tashi waxed poetic about on the beach years ago. They understand each other perfectly, and so do everyone watching. It’s like they’re in love, or like they don’t exist. They go to some really beautiful place together. Art comes to the net and jumps for the final hit, slams the ball and falls into Patrick’s arms.
They embrace in a moment of joy. We don’t even see who wins the match, because at this point in the story, it’s not important. This is the first time that Art and Patrick understand what Tashi is pursuing after getting to know her. The resentment and passive aggression of the past ten years melt away in Volley and the former best friends are able to connect in a way they never had before. They would never have reached that moment with any other opponent, and they would never have allowed themselves to get there if Tashi hadn’t pushed them both. They were eventually able to keep their promise to him, and everyone won.
Challengers is now playing in theatres.
