Rotten Tomatoes: 98% | Metacritic: 88
the plot of "Challengers" might sound stale, and yet, there's an electric spark to Guadagnino's approach that elevates the material, rendering it fresh. Behind every high-speed volley and smashed racket courses raw emotion, resulting in the steamiest (and funniest) sports-centric love triangle since "Bull Durham." With some romantic movies, you'd do well to pack tissues. In the case of "Challengers," bring a towel. It's that rare film where you'll work up a sweat just from spectating.
‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher
Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist compete for Zendaya’s affections in 'Challengers,' a steamy, stylish tennis-centric love triangle from Luca Guadagnino.
variety.com
Moment by moment, line by line and scene by scene, Challengers delivers sexiness and laughs, intrigue and resentment, and Guadagnino's signature is there in the intensity, the closeups and the music stabs.
Challengers review – Zendaya aces uproariously sexy tennis-set love triangle
Luca Guadagnino’s terrifically absorbing screwball dramedy features a devastatingly cool leading lady, Josh O’Connor on rallying form and zinging extended dialogue rallies to match
www.theguardian.com
Justin Kuritzkes' script... subverts the typical stakes of each match in order to focus on the animating thrill of wanting something with every flooded sweat gland on your body.
‘Challengers’ Review: Luca Guadagnino and Zendaya Serve Up a Smart and Sexy Tennis Drama About Three Players in Search of the Perfect Match
Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor are electrifying in a hugely satisfying Luca Guadagnino movie that redefines what it means to win at love.
www.indiewire.com
And that's the thing: the film is fun. It's smart and sexy and engaging, from the whip-smart dialogue and Jonathan Anderson's playful costuming (Tiny shorts! Oversized, period-appropriate hideous polo shirts! An 'I TOLD YA' shirt as famously worn by JFK Jr!) down to the note-perfect supporting actors Darnell Appling (who is also Zendaya's long-time assistant) and Joan Mcshane.
Challengers review – everything is sex, except sex, which is power
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play a trio of tennis players whose lives are inextricably connected in a complicated love triangle.
lwlies.com
Challengers is just plain fun — playful, aggressive, and a thrill to watch. It isn't like anything else that's hit cinemas in the past few years.
Zendaya’s Challengers is the sensual, satisfying cure for sexless cinema
Luca Guadagnino — the director who had Timothée Chalamet penetrate a peach in Call Me By Your Name — is back at it, now with Zendaya
www.polygon.com
It's a treat to see three comparatively young actors nailing the kind of understated flirty gravitas that the stars of movies for grownups used to exhibit in earlier eras.
Challengers movie review & film summary (2024) | Roger Ebert
A love triangle that plays out in and around the tennis court, in a film that thwacks the audience back and forth like a ball over a net.
www.rogerebert.com
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