User reviews

First of all, this movie has an 80s-style vibe that we have seen many times before that could have well been told in a conventional 90-100 minute movie. This movie truly was not "important" enough to tell it over 131 minutes. Add to that there were pointless extended shots that you were begging to end. At about 100 minutes in, audience members were looking at their cellphones either to check the time or they were getting restless.

Second, there were excessive timeline jumps. It is often a useful story-telling device, but here it was excessive and distracting - so much so that when they did another timeline jump there was a consensus "groan." Making matters worse, is that there were time jumps as long as 13 years. However, Zendaya --- bless her heart --- as much as they tried to "age" her and "de-age" her through hair and make-up, she never looked, to me, older than about 17 years old regardless of the time era.

Third, while I credit Zendaya for tackling such a meaty role, and as much as I otherwise adore her, she just simply seemed to young to be so "weathered" and "jaded" and "cynical" and "ruthless" and "calculating" as she was. Further, I really don't remember her smiling once throughout the movie. And as I have read in other reviews, she seemed to have a resting "scowl" throughout the movie - ironically very much similar to the scowl she had throughout both Dune 1 and 2.

And lastly, by the end of the movie, none of the three characters were likeable, and, perhaps, oddly, sadly, Zendaya was, to me, the least likeable. And from a film character study point of view, the viewer is never given a reason or backstory for this.

With all these distractions in mind, I was so eager for the movie to end that I lost all investment whatsoever in who won or lost in the story's big moment.

I went to see this yesterday although it was not my choice.

I tried to disregard that tennis mostly bores me.

Usually perceptive, but I did not get the point of the film.

A love triangle spanning 13 years with Zendaya as the master manipulator. What was she doing? Making the chaps better tennis players, making them grow up, making them aware that their long time friendship was more than just that. I do not know and then you ask yourself, why?

On the plus side, Josh O'Connor was mesmerising, turning in a good performance. The music was good, if on occasion a tad overdramatic for the scene being played out. Some titters.

On the minus side, the tennis montages grew tedious, the time jumps a little too often, particularly towards the end of the film.

There was one scene in a locker room, where I could not understand a word that was being said, I thought it was not in English, but I could not understand the gist or the purpose. Very frustrating.

The film was too long (I saw people leave) and, dare I say it, a little pointless.

The only reason I went to see this movie was to see if Zendaya could hang with the big dogs. To see if she can carry a film all by herself. She has the talent, she has the looks. She has it all. I think this movie is a good start to launch her career as a bonfide movie star. That being said, the movie itself was okay. Just okay. Not great, not bad but okay. I thought Zendaya was good. Her performance was something I expected, which I guess is a good thing. Didn't blow me out of the water but overall good. The actor who played Patrick, in my opinion did a great job. However everything else about this movie just fell short for me. Too much style and not enough substance.

This is a tough one. I liked the concept and the overall story. However i feel like it missed the mark on occasions.

The acting was decent. Felt like each character was built upon chemistry and realism. It kept me entertained for the most part.

The times jumps at the beginning worked and created suspense. Leaving the viewer unsure of what the history our 3 characters share however, the time jumps became a bit too rapid and i personally found it harder to keep up with where we are in the story. I feel like they could've left out a few scenes to make the story flow smoother.

The soundtrack was interesting. Not sure if it suited the mood of the film. But my biggest gripe is the ridiculously slowed down ending. Not sure what the director was thinking with that one.

The conclusion felt like it was going on for 1 hour and i felt it a little cheesy with the last scene of the film.

Overall I see a lot of influence from the film "Match Point" starring Scarlet Johansson. In my opinion that film was far more successful in what "challengers" was attempting.

Overall, bit hit and miss. Some decent moments but nothing to get you excited about or talk about after.

What I love about Guadagnino is that he never tries to replicate others or do something that can be very forgettable. Even if it's not always easy to see the similarities between Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria, Bones & All and Challengers, one thing is certain: they all have a very distinctive approach and are unique cinematic products.

The score of this film is incredible, it's like a whole trip and it evens contributes to make us anxious like we are watching a tense thriller. It is a very sexy film even if sometimes it feels a bit trapped to the Hollywood safe sense of disruption.

The trio is amazing and I was the entire time mesmerised by Zendaya, who lives the more complex and nuanced of the three characters. The tennis scenes are very cool and I love many of the artistic choices, especially the creative editing process, not only in terms of the structure but some fantastic montages.

Challengers will be a very divisive movie. Just scan the User Reviews. I think if you are a fan of either Zendaya or director Guadagnino, you will find no fault in this movie. Those reviews are all the 8-10 ones you see here.

Personally, I found the movie incredibly slow-paced, driven by a poorly constructed story with characters I cared nothing about. The first 15 minutes dragged, but when they did the flashback to when Tashi, Art, and Patrick first met, I thought there might be some potential. There was an attempt at character-building. But then the movie continued to jump back and forth in time to explain how we ended up where the movie began, with no effort to delve deep into any characters.

The script felt like a first draft. There was potential for an excellent story about how Tashi used and played Art and Patrick against one another to advance her life and career. But there are no key events to truly drive the plot. We just jump around in time to show their failed relationships.

I also found the acting dreadful, especially Zendaya. None of the leads can emote anything, possibly due to the poor script or directing. Most lines are delivered flat and monotone. The movie also lacks humor and joy, other than the first flash back scene.

Many scenes are also drawn out way too long, with throbbing techno music and slow motion. I constantly found myself looking at my watch or hoping there was a remote control so I could skip ahead 10 seconds. They could have easily removed 20 minutes from the final edit with no impact to the story. The last 10 minutes were truly awful.

The whole homoeroticism aspect also falls flat. Art and Patrick can shove churros in each other's mouths as much as they want, but there is nothing else about their relationship to think either is completely heterosexual. It's like the director had to throw this in to be edgy. Ditto with the locker room and sauna scene.

I also found the tennis action disappointing. I give the director credit for attempting something different by showing the action as if the player had a Go-Pro on their head or if the ball were the camera. But none of it works. There is no excitement or tension in any of the points played. And all of the full-frame shots of the actors swinging a racket obviously use a CGI ball.

And don't get me started on the ending. Everyone in the theater burst out laughing. And they were laughing AT the ending, not WITH the ending. I didn't hear a single compliment from people leaving the theater.

So, in summary, if you love Zendaya or Guadagnino you may enjoy this movie. Otherwise, wait for it to hit streaming. And have that remote ready.

I had very high expectations for this movie to come out and planned weeks in advance to see it. Perhaps that was unfair to factor in for my rating, but overall it missed the mark.

I had trouble following the timelines of certain scenes and felt confused throughout. Also, the movie basically has only three characters that have any role of significance which I felt was odd. Perhaps the umpire would be considered the fourth character that you see and he has a very small part.

I thought Zendaya was brilliant, but I didn't particularly like her character or the two competitors. There was nobody that you wanted to root for. For a tennis movie, rather go for Wimbledon than this one unfortunately.

I really do not understand the reviews here, i am just going to attribute it to Zendaya fans, that's it. A ridiculous , disjointed film , entirely based on the egos of 3 people who have a very broken relationship with each other.

15 min before the end of the film, i dozed off, why? Coz i really didn't give a shot about their ridiculous drama about sleeping with each other and then screaming and being just bullying to each other for little reason.

The last scenes with the ridiculous slow motion was very annoying, the film seems to think of itself of a high octane action movie, but is a sleep inducing hypnosis movie with pointless drama.

They managed to push in tiltillating scenes into this movie, really wonder that was the entire point of the movie.

If the movie just showed Zendaya magically vanishing in the movie, i wouldn't care at all, as i was not invested at all.

Really wished i didn't see IMdB reviews and then go see this movie.. Without these reviews, i might not have seen it at all.

Forget Match Point, even Paul Bettany's Wimbledon is better. If you are not a fan of Zendaya, I would never reccomend this "movie" to anyone. It lacks absolutely everything but occasional beautiful scenery.

I remember Zendaya since Shake It Up and although she is a smart and lovely woman with indeniable star quality, her acting has never been convincing. She always positions herself perfectly for the shot, has the needed movement or expression, but it is always with more connection for the camera than with the character (even in Euphoria). I also never found her use of her voice adequate, it is usually one note. It sort of works here because Tashi is a character as flat as a pancake.

The two other leads are no better and it is an already very far fetched idea that they would attract the attention of anyone, let alone of someone like the Tashi character.

And if this was a movie to attract tennis fans... well it won't. None of the tree leads looks like they have ever played sport. Any sport, any kind, not professionally, just any at all. In school, in the backstreet with friends. The director is either very incapable of his job or hasn't either. They hired Brad Gilbert to consult and help. Ok, but he helps with the wrong aspects. In the end of the day a general viewer would not care if the serve technique is correct, or if the movement and speed is accurate. But he would care about the absolute lack of any engagement with the game. No passion, no desire, no will, no care. Even Ivan Lendl has visibly shown more connection to the game and he was infamous for cool attitude. Or Andre Agassi or Nick Kyrgios who have stated many times they hated tennis. These actors look and act like they are trying not to trip, not to make a wrong move and not like playing for anything (not just the tenmis aspects of the movie). And from this there is no loud enough music to make you care about their game or desires.

The music is terrible allthrough, loud and without having any connection with the supposed story. The overly in your face "metaphors" are just tiring at this point. Filmmakers might wanna try some new and fresh approach to get the point across. And the overuse of slow motion... it just makes the movie even less.

In a time where we care about sparing resources, resources for movies like this shouldn't even be be considered to be spent.

Challengers feels like an extremely modern film. It's very playful, and dare I say, sporty in the execution of humor. Everything feels like a little game in this movie. We're not supposed to think the fact that these guys are competing for the same girl is scandalous or the actual conflict of the movie. The conflict of the movie is very much centered on the way they both approach the game of tennis and how Zendaya's character is pretty much the one in control. The boys let her do her thing as she uses intelligence and sexuality to motivate them both. The soundtrack adds to the lightheartedness of the film, and there's no actual big traumatizing moment. It's nice to have such a light, breezy film about tennis that has a great sense of humor and also a ton of depth when it comes to themes like financial security, what happens inside country clubs, and where to go when your uber driver abandons you lmao.

Run time could've been a little shorter. There are a couple scenes that could have been shortened without compromising the plot or vibe of the movie.

Movie had lots of cool cinematography shots. The score really elevated the whole movie, in my opinion. I liked how the storyline had a good combination of present day and past tense. Made the climax that much more exciting.

I'm not normally a big sports movie person but this one, while definitely a movie about tennis, is more a movie about the characters and their love, passion and what is it that drives us at our core to be competitive.

Acting was very good. Zendaya was great.

Would see again.

I think all three leading characters were very well cast and delivered great performances, and the soundtrack is fantastic. But what came out is still a complete mess, feels raw and very cheap.

Dialogs are barely audible behind too loud soundtrack. The story is non-existent, and far too patchy, jumping back and forth in time. The characters are not very well developed, and their motivation poorly justified.

And what was all that product placement? Aston Martin, Uniqlo, Chanel, Augutinus Bader, to name a few. We really pay for the cinema ticket to have it all pushed down our throats?

The actors who worked on it and us, viewers, deserve better.

This movie absolutely FLOORED me. The direction, the script, the music, the "acting" (I put quotations there because it felt like real life, the acting was perfect). The way the camera moves was CONSTANTLY fresh. One stop-motion-esque scene in particular --- but PLEASE, just go experience it for yourself. It's better than anything this year and will be bound to become an all time classic. There's nothing even remotely similar to this movie. The all-time most impressive thing about this movie is how at the start of the movie there is little attachment to the characters and then it reveals more and more layers until literally you are at the edge of your seat all the way up to the finish line. Layers and layers until, yes, a true CLIMAX. I don't write reviews, but this movie just grabbed me and excited me about film again. I'm home, sitting on my bed, and my heart is still pounding strong. This makes me want to create something. This is ART. 10/10.

I felt that three of them were good but Guadagino chose to focus on (a) the product placement (god.. could they be more obvious?) (b) the annoying soundtrack accompanying the endless scenes in slow motion of people staring at each other, and (c) cool camera angles. Don't get me wrong. I understand film is another language in itself but I think the acting is far from the priority of the filmmaker. In the few moments where we get to see them interact with each other there is chemistry. I don't understand why he (or Amazon) chose not to focus more on that. I was so over that annoying soundtrack of gay 90s club. Did he choose to cut the story like that because he knew there was not much story to tell to begin with?

A refreshingly original story(or maybe an existing story applied to tennis), a dynamite cast, and a totally point-driven plot. At no point in the movie did I doubt the obsession the characters had with tennis, and how it could potentially be utilized as a division. The suspense was created with multiple slow-moving scenes that when accompanied by the score were made into high-suspense scenes. Directors all over have opinions and advice on how to handle such scenes, I left the film believing Guadagnino could teach this at university level.

Zendaya often succumbs to a deadpan expression that left me wanting a bit more in a few key scenes, but Mike and Josh seemed to connect well with her and respond accordingly. The cinematography surrounding these moments took control, and I was distracted by suspense.

The script was well written, I think they did a great job staying the course and not making this movie about more than it was intended to be. Felt rather un-hollywood in that sense.