Challengers (2024)

The review calls the film a fun, smart and sexy character study powered by strong performances and playful direction. It singles out Josh O’Connor’s charismatic turn as a standout alongside the film’s sharp dialogue and energetic style.

Guadagnino, O'Connor and Zendaya deliver the greatest tennis movie in history with terrific performances and a sexy masterclass in tension. The critic praises the faultless central trio and the director at the top of his game.

The critic calls it Guadagnino’s most purely entertaining film, a scintillating mix of romantic triangle and gripping sports drama with playful showmanship. Zendaya is praised as superb and commanding, with the dynamic tennis sequences and score singled out for their intensity and wit.

The critic finds the film smart, seductive, and one of Guadagnino’s most pleasurable and playful works, with strong chemistry among the leads driving the love-triangle story intertwined with tennis competition.

The critic calls the movie irrepressibly entertaining and exuberantly lusty, an amped-up story of a three-way romantic rally in the tennis world. He praises its free-floating horndoggery and stylish rebuke to puritanical mainstream cinema.

Guadagnino's tennis love triangle is the most purely pleasurable film of the year with sleek bodies, minds and racquet-twanging steaminess. The critic singles out the chemistry and tense tennis sequences for praise.

The critic describes the film as sexy and adrenalized, exposing tennis as rife with sexual frustration through inventive camerawork and excess. She singles out Zendaya’s ferocious, slicing performance as the standout element that cuts through the noise.

The review describes a breezy, sexy tennis drama that benefits from strong performances and inventive match sequences. Zendaya is singled out for one of her most electric roles, though the final act is noted as somewhat indulgent.

The critic finds Guadagnino back in strong form with a focused, witty and erotic tennis love triangle that recaptures the yearning of his best work. The film's playful energy and strong performances, especially Zendaya's, keep it entertaining throughout.

Guadagnino delivers an absurdly sexy, fun tennis romance with power plays and interlocking desires among three leads. The critic singles out Zendaya's star quality and the film's erotic tension for praise.

The critic praises the film as wildly enjoyable and electrifying, crediting Guadagnino for delivering two strong movies in one with its sports drama and charged love triangle. Zendaya’s performance is highlighted as a particular strength amid the sweaty, kinetic tennis sequences.

The critic hails the film as horny, hungry and phenomenally exciting filmmaking with exquisitely precise direction, where every tennis moment is rooted in character and the stakes feel life-or-death. It singles out the tactile, physical filmmaking, the three lead performances and the thrilling, mischievous energy of Guadagnino at his peak.

The critic finds the film a dizzying, horny ménage à trois tennis drama with stellar performances, particularly Zendaya cementing herself as a leading lady and O’Connor as a spectacularly watchable antagonist, plus creative tennis sequences and a standout threesome scene. The thumping techno score is singled out as the main fault for being overly intrusive.

The critic praises the psychosexual tennis drama for its killer central performance from Zendaya as a cocky, self-assured femme fatale driving the power dynamics, with strong supporting turns from Faist and O’Connor. It singles out the homoerotic tension and Zendaya’s invigorating presence while noting the film relies more on implication and desire than explicit sex scenes.

The critic finds the film a fizzy, lightly sexy and enjoyable tease centered on a changing love triangle among tennis players. She singles out the three appealing leads and the pleasure of watching attractive people circling one another with desire.

The critic describes it as a pulsating tale of erotic tension and discord among three tennis players, entertaining throughout with operatic sensuality in key scenes and a virtual grand slam of acting from Zendaya, Faist and especially O’Connor. It notes the stylish, racy makeover of the sport but suggests it might be too heady for some.

The critic praises Guadagnino's kinetic, entertaining and horny direction in a tennis movie that's not really about tennis, with spellbinding performances from the leads. The complex, toxic dynamics of the central love triangle and innovative camerawork are singled out for praise.

This is without a doubt the single most exciting movie of the year, a sexy twisted tale with three incredible lead performances and the best-filmed tennis action outside the ATP tour. The euphorically bouncy EDM score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross perfectly complements Guadagnino’s intoxicating direction.

Guadagnino delivers a propulsive, captivating story of love and competition through a true love triangle, with a loud techno score, meticulously observed details, and inventive filming of the matches that keeps viewers engaged.

The critic calls it the horniest movie of the year and a lustful, exhilarating watch driven by star-making performances, epic slow-motion scenes and a phenomenal soundtrack. Zendaya's nuanced, power-hungry turn as Tashi is singled out for particular praise.

The film is one of Guadagnino’s twistiest, most compelling, and nonstop horniest works, a culmination of his talents that blends passion, unpredictability, and character drama into immensely entertaining viewing.

The critic hails the playful, sexy and compelling film as one of the year's best, with sensational performances and off-the-scale chemistry from the three leads. The brilliantly structured screenplay that unfolds like a tennis match and the pulse-pounding score are singled out for praise.

Guadagnino spins a pretty simple tale into a skillful 131-minute epic with excellent performances from the cast. Mike Faist stands out as the ambitious Art navigating love and tennis in the shadow of his friend, while the non-linear structure effectively juices the story.

Challengers is broad commercial entertainment that thrills and titillates with its hyper-extended love triangle, cheeky homoeroticism, and kinetic style, but remains more about surface-level energy than deeper substance.

The critic finds it a flawed but deeply human film that explores love, rivalry and personal growth through the tennis metaphor. She praises the sharp character development, O’Connor and Faist’s palpable chemistry, and Zendaya’s compelling presence while complaining about choppy pacing from time jumps and a distracting score.

The whole thing is ludicrously dragged out over 13 years and sitting through it feels like longer, with no real character development despite accurate tennis details. Zendaya handles the age span convincingly but the film offers little depth or engagement beyond surface appeal of its attractive stars.

Guadagnino delivers his sexiest film yet, a captivating character study of a tangled love triangle elevated by intricate power dynamics and sexual politics. Zendaya dominates the screen with sizzling chemistry alongside O’Connor and Faist, matched by a pounding Reznor/Ross score that the critic feels in their bones.

Challengers is a grandiose, propulsive, erotic love triangle that treats tennis matches as outlets for sexual release and power dynamics, buoyed by longing, a pulsing score, and exhilarating performances from its three leads.

Challengers is a sharp, snappy, and blisteringly sexy sports-and-sex drama that provocatively pushes back against puritanical culture, with creative verve, sensual physicality, and a fun, thrilling watch thanks to its lead performances and direction.

Guadagnino flips the love-triangle scenario on its head with a glorious late-’90s thumping techno score that heightens tension in the pivotal tennis matches. The filmmaking is completely ace, delivering a cinematic matchpoint through style, editing and the central performances.