Challengers
Challengers
Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, transformed her husband into a champion. But to overcome a recent losing streak and redeem himself, he'll need to face off against his former best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 1, 2025
I think ya’ll are just horny or something. That was stupid.
I found zero reason to care about these characters, none of which are given depth whatsoever. And while I appreciate some of the creative flourishes in the tennis matches, there were plenty others that were incredibly frustrating….
[spoilers ahead if you have not seen the film]
…..particularly the use of hyper slo-mo in that final match. We all know Patrick is going to do Art’s dumb serve maneuver to nonverbally signal that he f**ked his wife. But to have to sit there and watch Patrick bounce his ball, almost serve, bounce his ball again, almost serve, look across the net, bounce his ball again, all in super slow-mo?….just stop. Kind of disappointed in the score too. I mean, I liked the Ross-Reznor tracks in isolation, but I didn’t really think it fit this film all that well. I had a suspicion that this wouldn’t be my thing and that’s one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to watch this. Honestly, this was more disappointing than even I was expecting.