‘Challengers’ Is a Grand Slam of Sex and Sweat

The orgasmic groaning and grunting are part of tennis’ appeal. They reflect the intensity of the sport: how hard players have to hit the ball; how fast they have to dash from one end of the court to the other; how carefully they have to avoid slipping on their own sweat, dripping off their body and onto the ground in the punishing heat of the sun. Just making contact between the ball and racket is enough primal satisfaction to rival any roll in the hay. A loud, irrepressible moan serves the same purpose in tennis as it does in sex. The noise is both a gasp of pleasure and a way to catch your breath to ensure the experience lasts as long as it can.

There is plenty of this rapture in Challengers, both on and off the court. Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, in theaters Apr. 26, is a fluid, psychosexual heater paced as fast and as thrilling as any tennis tournament. Drama is spiked across the net and volleyed back and forth between the movie’s three players in a fiery match with everything at stake. In the film, tennis is very much a three-person sport, and every new serve feels like it’s for the match point. Advantage oscillates between a different person with each scene. Heat swells, tensions flare, and skin is slick with perspiration, but fatigue never once sets in—for the characters or the audience.

Energy is what tennis demands, and Challengers has it in droves. Justin Kuritzkes’ screenplay is a dynamic exploration of passion that puts its central trio of young tennis prodigies under Guadagnino’s finely focused microscope. Co-stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist flit about, finding new ways to push and pull each other across 13 years of contorted friendship and estranged relationships, hurtling toward one big reunion that will dictate their shared pasts and uncertain futures. It’s a boisterous ride, and though it’s never quite as nasty and deceitful as it initially purports, the film gets its kicks from the rush of the larger game, not just from its players’ moves. The precise calculation is exhilarating, and Challengers is an exemplary model of just how much breathless action three people can conjure with the love of their game on the line.

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