Jakarta – One of the most interesting fun facts about Challengers is that this movie is the third movie for Mary Jane in three different versions of the tennis-related Spider-Man movies. While Kirsten Dunst was playing in Wimbledon, Emma Stone played in Battle of the Sexes. The next interesting fact is that these three tennis movies are very different from each other. Battle of the Sexes is a biopic, Wimbledon is a serious romantic comedy and Challengers is a romantic drama that will make the audience sweat.

Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a former tennis player who had to leave the stage due to a leg injury. He was then a trainer for her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Fist, who appeared yesterday in Spielberg’s West Side Story). Their lives seem happy. They wear branded clothes, stay in hotel rooms and become the face of Aston Martin. But from their cold interaction, all the viewers knew that the flames of their romance had long gone out.

Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) is in a very different financial situation. He couldn’t even stay at a cheap motel. That day, when he confirmed his registration for the “challenge” game, he received information that big names would be competing. Arthur Donaldson is not a foreign name for Patrick Zweig. Also by the name of Tashi Duncan. In an instant, this tennis match turned into something that these three burned.

Luca Guadagnino is not interested in making sports movies. Challengers is set in tennis but it’s not the kind of movie where the character who wins the cup gets everything. Getting on the podium is not a goal that Guadagnino wants to achieve. What he wants to achieve is to tear the emotions of the audience with a passionate love triangle story.

Calling a film about a love triangle is a false simplification. This movie is about obsession. This movie is played by people who have more ambitions than winning. Challengers is about people looking for sparks again in their lives. Justin Kuritzkes, the script writer for this movie, designed this movie as a tight competition. But victory is not the main target, but how jealousy can be a powerful fuel to be number one.

Using a non-linear storytelling approach, Challengers had me questioning every moment about each character’s motivations. Kuritzkes decision to withhold information and release it at the right time makes this very interesting. None of the Challengers characters are holy, they are all black and full of blemishes. But miraculously, I didn’t hate them for a moment. Kuritzkes gives a complete measure so that the audience can fully understand every movement of his character.

The choice of Luca Guadagnino as a director was a brilliant decision because he is one of the few directors who knows how to show the right intimacy, you can feel the screen shaking because of it. As the person responsible for Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino paints Challenges with a thick inherent tension. There are no sex scenes in this film but you can see that Guadagnino uses a tennis court as his bed. The audience only sees the characters almost having sex or after having sex. But once you get to the field scenes, you can see how Guadagnino paints his characters. The bright sun makes the character’s skin glow. And in slow motion, the falling sweat looks very cinematic.

It requires first class actors to express passion. Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor not only have the ability to be Zendaya’s playthings, the three of them have really amazing chemistry. If Mike Fist can drive you crazy with his smile, Josh O’Connor can make you fall in love with his effortless slang style. At the same time, Zendaya proves that she is one of the most talented young actresses through her role here. He is able to present the innocence of a teenager as well as an older figure who knows what he wants. This is Zendaya’s most complex role to date, even compared to her role in Euphoria.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an adult romance drama as engaging as Challengers. This movie not only makes tennis sexy but also makes the most classic love story into something worth celebrating. Challengers is an experience you should have at the cinema. Trust me, once Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross grace the cinema speakers with their addictive techno music, you’ll wish you could step into the screen to share their passion. awareness

Opponents can be watched in all cinema networks in Indonesia

Candra Aditya is a writer and filmmaker who graduated from Binus International.

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