Challengers

I’ve been a tad lukewarm on Luca Guadagnino’s movies. Up to this point I had seen Call me by your Name and Bones and All. And while I respected those movies, and still believe they are extremely well made. They failed to click with me. So it comes with great joy to say that Challengers clicked with me in its first shot, and never let go. This is one of the most electrifying movies we’ve had come out in, dare I say years. So unapologetically itself that you can’t help but smile at every turn. It’s great seeing a director have fun with the moviemaking. So many shots here are so unique and full of life that I was in awe. Same can be said to the trio of performances from Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Conner. Who all churn out possibly their best performances so far. They all get the perfect amount of screen time. And while I definitely could say I wouldn’t have minded more, I can’t complain when what we got was so exciting. Speaking of exciting, the score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is easily the best score of the year. I’m sorry Hans Zimmer, as much as I adore the Dune 2 score, it can’t hold a candle to the energy this score brings. I do think the film can be a tad messy, not enough to where it really docks the score down. And it was really only like 2 scenes. It’s just enough to keep this from 5 stars. But after months of movies that were fine at best and boring at worst. It’s amazing to see a movie really shoot for the stars and successfully attempt at making Tennis actually interesting!