![As the referee throws the ball up for the tip-off, freshman Simone Diby leaps towards the ball to get it in Phoenix possession. Diby is a new member of the Phoenix girls basketball team, and despite it being a change, she finds it enjoyable. “It’s definitely a different experience if you’ve never played on a team, [but] I think it’s still fun.”](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DSC_0057-1200x662.jpg)
This movie is rated R due to sexual content, language, and graphic nudity.
Game, set, match. On April 26, “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor released in theaters. The movie follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) and her rise to fame. She was destined to be one of the greatest female players of her time until an unexpected injury halted her career in tennis. After recovering, she entered back into the tennis world as a coach to keep her relationship with the sport alive.
Switching from past and present, viewers gain an understanding of how Tashi and her husband Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), began their journey into adulthood. In the midst of this, Art’s lifelong friend, Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) complicates the relationship between the three of them. The relationship that forms between the three teenagers sticks with them well into adulthood, even when they are not on speaking terms and leading different lives.
Stepping onto center court, romance fills the movie as Tashi, Art, and Patrick form a twisted love triangle. They are constantly in one another’s lives, but Tashi is a competitive tennis player and mostly thinks about tennis and winning. This interferes with the triangle, as both Art and Patrick sometimes think of Tashi as too much. This causes complications in their relationships, friendships, and sportsmanship as their private lives get intertwined and bleed into their tennis game.
The actors trained rigidly to prepare for their roles, as they practiced alongside professional players and coaches for three months. For six weeks out of the three months, they were being coached at a country club in Boston. They each trained on their own respective tennis courts to master their specific styles. Zendaya trained and copied her training partner step-by-step like it was a dance. Zendaya, Faist, and O’Connor displayed incredible tennis skills throughout the movie and exemplified how physically and mentally challenging tennis is to both players and coaches.
Gaining popularity on social media due to Zendaya being listed as a producer, “Challengers” had an interesting plot as it carries viewers throughout the characters’ lives as teenagers and adults. Director Luca Guadagnino strategically connected the flashbacks to the present without viewers getting lost within the mixed plotlines.
The movie received an 89% from Rotten Tomatoes; critics called it a “character-driven-story.” Audiences enjoyed the way the director used his stars to his advantage and created a strong power dynamic between the three main characters. They felt the movie was thrilling, as the fast-paced tennis matches displayed throughout the movie kept people on the edge of their seats. People enjoyed the acting throughout the movie and took note of the efforts put into making the film as close to reality as possible when it came to match play.
Overall, the film portrayed incredible performances as well as captured the intensity of tennis as a professional sport. Although this film is definitely for a mature audience due to specific content, it expresses dedication and how important sportsmanship is in tennis, on and off the court.
“Challengers” is now out in theaters.
