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James Mottram

3.5/5 stars
Luca Guadagnino swaps cannibals for tennis balls in Challengers, a breezy romantic drama starring Zendaya. The Italian director goes from his first American film, 2022’s Bones and All, directly into his second, although the two could not be more different.
While the first was grimy and grisly, this is sexy and stormy, and never more so than in an early scene in which Zendaya’s college-level tennis prodigy Tashi has two fellow male players on the bed either side of her – friends and doubles partners Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor).
The scene crackles with energy and fizzing dialogue from screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. “Aren’t you everybody’s type?” purrs Art, as both he and Patrick scramble to win her affections.


Soon, professional ambitions and personal rivalries kick in, and the narrative whips back and forth through time – from these friendly early encounters to years later, when Art and Tashi are now married, with a young daughter named Lily.
She is a successful coach while he is looking to complete a career grand slam by winning the US Open.
Yet as the story unfolds, Art’s dwindling interest in competitive tennis, coupled with his fragile relationship with Tashi, leads to trouble in paradise.

Things get even more complicated when she urges him to enter a low-key tournament in New Rochelle – only to find that the down-on-his-luck Patrick is playing there. History resurfaces, as Guadagnino looks to play out a triangular relationship and all the messiness that it entails.
Both O’Connor, the British actor who played the young Prince Charles in The Crown, and Faist – who made a real splash in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story – are ace as the two testosterone-driven rivals. “It’s about winning – and I do. A lot,” mutters Art.
But it is Zendaya, hot off her second appearance in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune franchise, who really excels in a role that shows just how dexterous she is as a performer.

Guadagnino presents the tennis sequences in a vibrant manner. One scene features the camera seemingly attached to the ball as it is hit back and forth over the net, a dizzying spectacle.
It is a shame how overstretched the final act feels, the tension draining from Art and Patrick’s final courtside battle.
Still, Hollywood rarely puts tennis in the spotlight – and there’s something thrilling about a deep dive into this glamorous world, all wrapped up in a spicy love story.
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Challengers movie review: Zendaya excels as tennis prodigy in Luca Guadagnino’s sexy romantic drama

(From left) Mike Faist as Art, Zendaya as Tashi and Josh O’Connor as Patrick in a still from Challengers (category to be confirmed). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

Mike Faist (left) as Art and Zendaya as Tashi in a still from Challengers. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Zendaya as Tashi in a still from Challengers. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Micheal Ward as Vinny in a still from The Beautiful Game. Photo: Alfredo Falvo/Netflix

A still from The Beautiful Game. Photo: Netflix

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(From left) Keeley Hawes as Prince Andrew’s aide Amanda Thirsk, Rufus Sewell as the prince, and Charity Wakefield as Princess Beatrice in a still from Scoop. Photo: Peter Mountain/Netflix

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Zendaya’s tennis prodigy has two admirers in a doubles team, Art and Patrick (played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor), who compete for her affections
Years later, she is a coach and married to Art, who is at the top of his game, when they encounter the less successful Patrick at a tennis tournament


Zendaya plays a young tennis prodigy, while Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play doubles partners who are both infatuated with her, in this romantic drama from Bones and All director Luca Guadagnino.


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Review | Challengers movie review: Zendaya excels as tennis prodigy in Luca Guadagnino’s sexy romantic drama