i have to say a few things about that damn movie...

Challengers you will always be famous

I’ve been too busy thinking about the actual viewing experience of watching Challengers, the scorching hot tennis flick directed by Luca Guadagnino and led (for the first time on film) by Zendaya, to process… pretty much anything else lately.

Since last Monday, when I saw it a few days ahead of the film’s wide release, my mind has been reeling. It’s a non-stop montage of sweat rolling off toned limbs, the thwack of a tennis ball smashed across the court with roiling passion, the all-too-familiar tightness in your throat when you realize someone you’re lusting after is harboring reciprocal feelings.

I’ve seen it thrice now and I’m scared I might die when it leaves theaters.

The pulsating techno score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor has replaced my entire inner monologue. (Well, that’s not entirely true, there is still 2% of my brain that repeats ‘me espresso’ and ‘I wanna dance with JORJ! quite loudly and quite often.) The music in Challengers is a rolling, relentless soundtrack that— not that it even needs it— heightens the movie’s sex appeal. Go listen to it now, it’s free adderall.

oh my god

What is it that is so damn intoxicating about this film? I could list a billion reasons, but lemme hone in one my favorite…

• The impossibly addictive chemistry between Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist— it’s absurd how they pull off every scene seamlessly

• Music so impeccably edited to fit its accompanying visuals that you can’t HELP but feel something quiver

• The delicious anxiety of watching tennis, an individual sport already so fixated on tension, flair, and style, knowing how much more is at stake than just tennis

• Forearms, triceps, calves, and good old-fashioned abdominals

• Long, locked-in shots on Faist’s facial expressions; he conveys a sort of juvenile, bashful, idolizing gaze that complements the devilish, sleazy confidence plastered on O’Connor at all times

• Heartless quips from Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan that you can’t help but squeal at in delight

• Memorable side characters (the woman Patrick dates for a place to sleep is one of the funniest characters I’ve seen in awhile)

• A pace that feels relentless from the jump, yet still is able to successfully build into one of the greatest climaxes ever

• A psychosexual power structure that truly feels epic; everyone is winning and losing at various measures throughout the movie— maybe true balance does require true sacrifice?

OMG

I have so much more to say on this… but it’s kind of boring and one-note. It’s just a bunch more things I want to swoon over about this movie. It’s no surprise that it’s the first time I went to see a new movie more than once upon its release since Call My Be Your Name… Luca knows how to portray burning desire like few others, and I truly felt alive and changed when I walked out of that theater.

So, go see Challengers. See it in IMAX. I am literally not someone who has ever urged someone to see anything in IMAX. See it. In. IMAX. See it again, and then come talk to me about it.

happy summer ;)

AHHHHHHHHHH