Challengers
Directed by Luca GuadagninoTashi, 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.
Challengers Ratings & Reviews
- NovaJanuary 13, 2026This was a terrible film with horrible cinematography, bad pacing, and no redeemable characters.
- Muhammad SalmanDecember 22, 2025your own homie will literally kiss you on the lips and still ruin your life Yeah this a banger, and ion even like tennis...or most sports...or sports movies. A bit too many dicks tho, but the banger music saves it.
- VarunOctober 19, 2024I’ll admit right off the bat that I didn’t give 100% of my attention to this film and also took an hour lunch break in between, so I’m sure it affected my enjoyment but I also had some criticism to make. Firstly I do think this was a good psychosexual drama exploring the intersecting triangle dynamics of rivalry and love. But for me a lot of it didn’t click. I absolutely do not mind non-linear storytelling but I thought the back and forth was way too much in this film and it broke immersion. I didn’t feel an itching desire within me to know what defining events in the past caused a chain reaction to the present because at a certain point it got exhausting. Toxic characters can be fun to watch but I didn’t find myself caring much about any of them after the first half of the film. I also felt the slow motion was a bit excessive and cheesy. Tennis matches are already riveting by themselves so I don’t think the techno music added much, and in some scenarios felt too comical. I think the marketing and buzz around this film tried to sell how raunchy it is and I was disappointed by the lack of wildly intimate scenes. I thought the cinematography was really good and there were some really good scenes with intense dialogue and mind games. Reading some of the reviews on Letterboxd definitely enhanced my perception of the movie. I recently watched the documentary Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker, and I was absolutely transfixed by how dramatic tennis games can be, with players bringing all their life histories, desires, obsessions and pains into the game and how in return the tennis rivalries affected their wider life. I did not receive that same wondrous insight from Challengers, it had a lot of good ideas but couldn’t fully bring it together for me.
- Kevin WardJuly 1, 2025I 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.
- Mayank MishraDecember 17, 2025Don't watch
- wonderrxjrDecember 11, 2025God this was shot and made so well I loved it all. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did an insanely too good of job for this sound track wowza. Zendaya I loved your fuck ass bob in this so much like I wish mine could be that cool. Maybe I should talk to my friends and try to get good at tennis (I'm dogshit and always will be). Also LOVED seeing my favorite TV commentator Chris Fowler here for a bit
- Johan PotgieterOctober 21, 2025I enjoyed it a lot. I don't normally like sport movies but this one was great. Solid story and acting by all involved.
- AndreiTamasMay 18, 2025i like tenis
- gosso85September 5, 2025This is just perverted slop, there aren’t enough good tennis movies. Watch Wimbledon over this threesome trash any day.
- Rowan KrzysiakJanuary 21, 2025A Disney Channel movie about Tennis with a few more curse words and bums.
- neuroparadoxJuly 29, 2025Honestly, a masterpiece. Bravo, Luca 👏💐
- Yuvi RandhawaJune 21, 2025another movie I watched way too late but it was the perfect airplane movie. Sports movies are up there in my favorite genres and this one does not disappoint in the slightest. One of my favorite performances Zendaya has delivered
- Kevin McCormackJanuary 1, 2025True to it's name, the film laid down the challenge to see if the viewer could stand the pressures between the two grown men, who were close when younger -but were parted by a young beautiful woman (who married one man) and then the tensions between the three burned frusiouly into the game they loved.
- tellumApril 27, 2025This is a spiritual sequel to 7 Days In Hell.
- rg9400November 1, 2024My favorite movie of 2024 so far. Yes, over that other movie that Zendaya stars in. There are so many elements of Challengers that are at the top of their game. The score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Finch is electric, absolutely enhancing every single scene as the rhythm thunders and vibrates. The acting by the main trio is fantastic, but Zendaya especially is the best that she's ever been. Given a character like Tashie who is clearly hiding a lot behind her exterior, she is able to emote so well without any verbal dialogue, allowing the audience inside the character's head without having to spell it out. The cinematography is breathtaking as well, with plenty of excellent shots and angles that took my breath away. Just when you think you've gotten a grasp on the style, he throws a ball with a ton of topspin right at you. I could have used a little less slow-mo though, especially at the end. Guadagnino is at the top of his game, taking what could have been a fairly linear and straightforward story, slicing and dicing the structure into something far more labyrinthine, and not once losing sight of what matters. This movie is sexy and intense, and a lot of people will talk about the character relationships between the trio (as they should). However, to me, what stands out the most and what made me fall in love with this movie is the exploration of how these three different characters view success in their field of tennis and what each of them is willing to do to achieve that success. Truly a fantastic film.
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Challengers Trivia
Challengers was released on April 18, 2024.
Challengers was directed by Luca Guadagnino.
Challengers has a runtime of 2h 11m.
Challengers was produced by Amy Pascal, Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O'Connor, Zendaya.
The key characters in Challengers are Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor).
Challengers is rated R.
Challengers is a Drama, Romance, Comedy film.
Challengers has an audience rating of 7.6 out of 10.