A moment late in Challengers sum up the film’s misguided direction. In the midst of a flashy tennis match befitting a burly brawl straight out of the Matrix series, a simple embrace of love catches our attention — proof of substance triumphing over style. It’s a powerful moment but one that leaves you wondering whether all the aesthetic fluff cushioned the harder blow it could’ve dealt. 

Challengers is the latest film from Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino. Like A Bigger Splash, it’s a dark, tense love triangle set in sunny, serene locales. And like the characters in Guadagnino’s last film, Bones and All, the trio here comprises hungry fighters whose drive is indistinguishable from raw, primal survival instinct. For a while, there’s no knowing how far they’ll go yet the film often seems to hold back, which is surprising given its marketing as something of a soapy erotic thriller. 

The film opens at a point in which all three characters seem to be struggling to get their mojo back. Though he’s only in his early 30s, six-time Grand Slam champion Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) moves like a tired veteran. His opponent, Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), is bearded, bruised and battered. Art’s wife, Tashi (Zendaya), sits in the stands like a jaded socialite, hiding her emotions behind pitch-black sunglasses. 

You’ll have to catch your breath when the film flashes back to their fresh faces 13 years earlier. At the 2006 U.S. Open, Art and Patrick’s brother-like bond borders on that of lovers as Patrick jumps into Art’s arms and plants a kiss on his head after they win a junior doubles title. But they quickly ooze straight-boy energy when they watch Tashi play, and they invite her back to their hotel room later that night. Here, screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes once again hints at complex, homoerotic tension but dismisses it all too soon. Tashi even tells the young men that she doesn’t want to be a “homewrecker,” but they both immediately pursue their own heteronormative relationships with her. What started as a three-way journey leads to separate love affairs. 

Look, the film is engaging, but haven’t we seen enough of this already? The most talked-about moment in the trailer is the threesome makeout session. However, the film follows the conventional, expected route of exploring how polyamory doesn’t pay off. The steamy setup leads to a conflict that recalls 1993’s Indecent Proposal, wherein two dudes get butthurt about sharing a romantic relationship with a woman. It’s 2024. Cinematically at least, shouldn’t we be past ’90s-era sexual politics? 

Fortunately, the film does subvert expectations with the troubling suggestion that its central relationships are ultimately about professional aspirations. “Tell me it doesn’t matter whether I win,” Art pleads with Tashi in a particularly suspenseful scene. “Tell me you love me no matter what.” 

The film doesn’t transcend many of its love triangle tropes, but Guadagnino tries to make up for that with a propulsive style. 

With Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s sumptuous, frenetic cinematography and a freight train of a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers is dazzling to watch. But Guadagnino often seems to fly past or drown out its more emotionally interesting elements. In one scene, for instance, the score hammers away while Tashi and Patrick fight in her dorm room, making you strain to hear them — as if the energy of their argument is more important than what they’re saying. Maybe it is. Maybe the point is that no matter how progressive relationships seem, they’re all at risk of breaking over the same conflicts. 

The performances make up for the film’s faults. Faist, O’Connor and Zendaya express depths of desperation and heartache that the film doesn’t dive down into alongside them. When Tashi says, “I’m taking such good care of my little white boys,” Zendaya delivers the line with such an arresting edge of anger that you’ll wish it were from a more fully developed script — especially after watching so many close-up shots of Art and Patrick sweating on the court.

The final frames of the film show a richer, more complicated relationship than the ones we’ve seen preceding it. But this is only Kuritzkes’ first screenplay, and he’s already written another upcoming film with Guadagnino, who’s always worth watching. Relationships grow and change. Maybe their next collaboration will be more adventurous.