By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this story of a love (match) triangle with a tennis backdrop is that its screenplay was written by Justin Kuritzkes whose wife Celine Song was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Past Lives, our film of 2023.

• Read on for reasons including its success in making tennis riveting and occasionally raunchy

Zendaya also co-produces here in the wake of a string of celluloid hits including both recent Dune movies and 3 Spiderman films opposite her current squeeze Tom Holland who opens in Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo and Juliet in London’s West End this month.

The biggest indicator of what to expect is the appointment of Luca Guadagnino as director who is perhaps best known for his work helming 2017’s Call Me By Your Name during which Timothee Chalamet (Wonka) falls for the older Armie Hammer during a peach of an Italian summer.

The other sides of the love triangle are completed by best friends and fellow junior tennis players Patrick (Josh O’Connor, God’s Own Country) and Art (Mike Faist, Brokeback Mountain, @SohoPlace).

The plot sees both Patrick and Art fall in love with our heroine Tashi who offers to date the winner of the next tennis match between the 2.

The story-telling is non-linear and spans 13 years during which Tashi injures herself, falls out with her original beau and then marries the 2nd whom she coaches to considerable success while her original boyfriend fails to make it and competes instead in the titular ‘challengers’ where lower-ranked players compete to make up the draw in prestigious events like Wimbledon.

It’s a tennis movie that’s not really about tennis but the ‘love match’ between the 3. At its deepest Tashi explains that during a tennis match competing players can feel like they are in a relationship where for a period of no more than 15 seconds or so they ‘completely understand’ 1 another.

Guadagnino portrays a real infatuation between Patrick and Art including a coming-of-age story they share with Tashi and a particularly steamy sauna encounter where the down-on-his-luck Patrick tries to intimidate the on-top-of-the-world Art.

There’s a nice riff on a ‘tell’ in 1 man’s serve and a reference to Tashi the 2 men use as code which rears its head in the intense finale as both men once again serve for a bigger prize.

The thundering original electronic dance music used throughout is a bold choice and accentuates the same sex attraction here but it’s ultimately Zendaya who is pulling the strings here which gives the film a fresher feel than you might have been expecting.

It’s all a little bit of a tease and ultimately unsatisfying but succeeds in making tennis seem both riveting and occasionally raunchy.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Challengers Tickets
• Have you seen a Josh O’Connor film before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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