Last July, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” was pulled from its opening night spot at the Venice Film Festival. Amazon then delayed its September release to an April of 2024 launch. All of this due to the strikes. The film looks like Guadagnino’s most commercial effort.
The embargo has lifted and “Challengers” is earning raves across the board. It’s easily Guadagnino’s most acclaimed film since 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name.” 90 on Metacritic (based on 20 reviews) and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 30 reviews). I’ll be checking this one out on Monday morning.
Guadagnino must be poppin’ the champagne right about now. He still has another film ready to go this fall, “Queer,” and is then off to shoot “Separate Rooms,” with Lea Seydoux and Josh O’Connor, in Italy.
“Challengers” stars the trio of Zendaya, O’Connor, and Mike Faist. Guadagnino directs, based on a script by Justin Kuritzkes. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are scoring this one and their score is said to be incredibly realized.
The story revolves around a young tennis prodigy (Zendaya) who is the object of affection of two male players (Faist and O’Connor). Then she hurts her knee, leading to her settling down, marrying Faist’s character and choosing a life as a coach. Obviously, years later, the other guy still wants her.
I’m not sure where I currently stand with Guadagnino. I liked his first three breakouts (“I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash” and “Call Me By Your Name”), was puzzled by his remake of “Suspiria” — which I plan to give a rewatch, sometime soon —and was disappointed by 2022’s “Bones and All.” It does sound like he’s back in full force with “Challengers.”
Amazon MGM studios will release “Challenges” in theaters April 26.