Challengers

Ah man, I really wanted to like this movie more, but it just isn’t really my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched some real clunkers lately, and this is not one of them. I loved all of the sexual tension, homoeroticism, and manipulative mind games. I loved all the parallels and had no issues with the constant time jumps. I genuinely believed the sequences that took place 13 years ago felt like they took place more than a decade ago, which made me wonder why other movies struggle so much with smaller time jumps. I even really loved all of the tennis sequences and how they were shot—to the point of distraction where I was trying to figure out how they combined the practical and CGI effects.

What I had issues with was the bizarre pacing throughout. But it’s not your usual pacing issues. Maybe I’m just not used to Guadagnino’s visual language yet, but I honestly didn’t understand some of the short sequences. Each little moment, within a big moment, had these intense music cues. They always feel like they’re building to a big reveal, but once the music fades and silence engulfs the screen… another intense music cue kicks in, and now we’re building to another big reveal that may or may not have a payoff.

I was in a band when I was a teenager, and we played this big show. At the end of the final song, we did the thing every band ever does: we played a single chord, built up a big crescendo, and then WHAM!—ended the song and let everyone applaud. But we thought it would be funny if, once everyone started cheering, we’d start playing that note again, build it up one more time, then WHAM!—another fake-out. They started cheering, but—again—we started playing that same chord. I think we did this like five times total. By the time we actually finished, no one gave a shit anymore, and no one cheered. Looking back, in terms of punk rock performance art, this is still pretty funny and kind of badass. But it also would’ve been more satisfying for everyone if we just did it once or twice, let the applause roll, and called it a night.

There is a major payoff in Challengers that I will not spoil (if it wasn’t already spoiled for you by social media), but by the time that moment happened, it reminded me so much of that show. There were so many false buildups and payoffs that, by the time the memeified moment hit, I didn’t really care anymore.

But the biggest turn off for me was I didn't believe Zendaya would take an evening stroll on the beach with either of these two dudes, let alone waste her life on both of them. I love the idea and dynamic that she's married to the one she doesn't respect and the one she respects, she can't forgive. But why does she respect the 241st ranked tennis player in the world?

This is all pretty harsh criticism for what mostly amounts to a stylistic music and editing choices, so I hope everyone understands I’m kind of nitpicking here. I just wasn’t blown away by this movie the way I wanted to be—but that’s not the movie’s fault. It is what it is, and a few years from now I’ll very likely have the tone of: “Man, I remember kinda liking Challengers but not loving it. I should give it another shot.” Then I’ll watch it again and realize all those false buildups and payoffs are actually a metaphor for sex, and that it all just flew way over my head—like those awesome CGI tennis balls!