From visionary creator Luca Guadagnino comes “Challengers” starring Zendaya Tashi Duncan, who as the golden child of tennis, became an uncompromising coach… on and off the court. Her husband (Mike Faist) is a champion who is going through a professional crisis. Tashi decides to restore him to his former glory, but they are both in for a surprise when their opponent turns out to be another outdated champion, Patrick (Josh O.’Connor) – His former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend. When the past collides with the present and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself what will be the price of this victory?
This is the outline of the film's plot, and the story presented in it will stretch over several years. We will see during them Tashi's development not only as a player, but also as a woman who will turn from a promising teenager into a hardened coach and mother five-year-old child. Zendaya herself notes that her engagement with Guadagnino was a form of breaking away from the stereotypical roles of young girls who are just entering adulthood, and in an interview for Elle she stated: “I felt that it was a good step towards a more, one could say, adult role and to next phase.” The adultness of this role is not only a matter of motherhood, but also the bold scenes in which the actress took part.
“What makes a movie kiss great? A kiss that delights viewers because it spreads throughout the viewer's body. The kind of kiss that brings to mind a love long gone or the need for something fresh and illicit. A great movie kiss is all about chemistry, framing and pacing , but ultimately its success comes down to answering one question: Is this the kind of kiss you want to have? This is how Angelica Jade Bastién begins her review of Guadagnino's latest film. It refers to the widely commented kissing scene between the three main characters. It is this scene that arouses so much controversy and is the one about which the actress who plays Tashi is most often asked about.
However, the actress is slowly getting tired of the constant questions about this particular sequence, as she made clear during Jake's Takes, responding to the host when he noticed the unnatural amount of attention paid to the kisses in the movie. “I have no idea. I don't know if it's because they want it to go viral, I don't know. (…) I feel like other actors don't get as much attention… If it were anyone else, you probably wouldn't ask this question. (…) But yes, it is part of my job and it is a completely normal part of the job, despite the ideas people may have about it. But yeah, it's weird.”
Perhaps this interest in kissing scenes is not due to their controversial nature, but to something completely different. By now, the star has accustomed us to this if he participates in any on-screen romantic plots, they are stories about great love. This is the case in “Spider-Man”, in which the two heroes are just getting to know each other, slowly realizing their feelings. In turn, in “Dune”, the heroine, played by Zendaya, faces a moral dilemma and is ultimately rejected in favor of political games. Even in “Malcolm and Marie”, where despite everything the titular character Marie is characterized by a certain maturity, this love relationship is still tragic and in some aspects almost sacred.
It seems that in “Challengers” there will be a complete paradigm shift and from a distanced, pure and youthful love we will move to something characterized by a large dose of eroticism and sexuality, and part of the audience who creates this mystical image of Zendaya will simply she may not be ready to accept this quite bold outfit.
Apart from the popularity of this (in)famous scene, it must have been quite a challenge for the actors. Zendaya recalls that an intimacy coordinator was hired on set to help with these difficult tasks and also supervise the entire process in comfortable conditions. “We had an intimacy coordinator who was fantastic and very helpful as it was important that we felt safe.”. She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter and added: “I talked to my friends to find a way to feel comfortable. We played tennis together, we went out together, we exercised together. We bonded and felt comfortable with each other.” Mike Faist also confirmed her words: “We were able to spend time together in and out of rehearsals, especially with Josh. We were able to get to know each other as people before we started filming.” You can see that the actors tried to look as authentic as possible. The trailers confirm that there was indeed chemistry between them, and hopefully the final work will confirm what we can see in the trailers.
Although the actress had not played this sport before, her performance was not criticized by tennis star Syrena Williams. The subject matter of the work itself brings to mind two films: “Borg McEnroe: Between Courage and Madness” (Janus Metz, 2017) and “King Richard: The Victorious Family” (Reinaldo Marcus Green, 2021).. The first of them focuses on competition and the dynamics of the game itself, while the second is a rather classic biographical story, presenting the social context and the fate of the family. I have the impression that “Challengers” will fall into the first category, deepening the events on the court with the fight taking place off it.
Zendaya herself appreciated working with the director at every step and in an interview for Deadline she said: “Luca is brilliant. I think he has a great understanding of the human experience and a deep understanding of the characters he creates.”
In the finale, in order to create a counterpoint to the insight mentioned by the actress, I will return to Angelica Jade Bastién's review, which sums up the work in this way: “Just like the movie itself ‘Challengers'”Zendaya is a star who still operates only on the surface”. We will be able to find out whether the production is actually a shell on April 26, during the Polish premiere of the film.