Challengers

Watched in Dolby Luca's done it again. Challengers is going to be a Guadagnino classic, and exhibits his signature style of not being afraid to get up close and personal with the camera, or having those little moments that linger just long enough on the human body. He's absolutely killing it with his choice in music too; I thought his use of "Your Silent Face" in Bones and All was awesome, but this addicting score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is pure adrenaline. I couldn't tell you how blown away I was at how this exceeded my already-high expectations, the presentation is electric and it's a beautiful film from any angle that you look at it from. I haven't been this immersed in a new movie in a while, there’s even frequent time switches back and forth, but the story is airtight and simply works. I had hoped that Zendaya would've branched out from her usual tone and character portrayal, but she can't seem to shake off the angst that she always seems to gravitate to. Her attitude still comes across as swearing, snippy, and gruff that we've all seen before. She's still solid in most of her scenes, but to be quite honest the writing does a lot of the heavy lifting for her. On the other hand, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor with his infectious smile were unbelievable. I felt like I legitimately experienced the years of their friendship in the span of two hours, and the believability in their portrayals gives the impression that they're veterans of their craft, despite being early in their career. Tennis will never look this seamless and punchy again, and I can't even begin to imagine how this could be topped. Guadagnino simultaneously raised the bar and set it out of reach indefinitely.