The newest box office hit from Italian film director Luca Guadagnino has generated a swarm of buzz within the sphere of fans and critics. 

Guadagnino’s “Challengers” reads as a complicated love story between the main characters, although the subject of that love is blurred between the lines in this intense sports drama. Is it for the headstrong, competitive Tashi Duncan, dutiful Art Donaldson or down-on-his-luck Patrick Zweig? 

Perhaps it’s for the sport of tennis all on its own. However, Guadagnino creates an exemplary tale of the trials and tribulations one goes through for the sake of love, whether it’s for tennis or someone else.

The actors seamlessly blend into their own characters. No matter how much star power Zendaya holds, you can’t help but wince throughout the decisions she makes through the film; a true hallmark of an incredible actress. 

Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor hold their own as joint tennis superstars whose paths have diverged in clearly different ways. O’Connor’s performance as washed-out tennis superstar Patrick Zweig excels in his role as the supposed ‘bad guy’. Yet he is far from that, a necessity to Faist’s Art Donaldson and Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan. He is the final piece of a long empty marriage whose lifeline is in the game. Faist’s Donaldson and Zendaya’s Duncan play off each other really well; a toxic symbiotic relationship has stemmed from their love. One cannot seem to thrive without the other. 

It is a movie not just about tennis but the love and relationships we have with one another. The ways in which we see each other and how others see us. “Challengers” has you at the edge of your seat waiting to scream with victory with the rest of the characters. The score is enough to keep your heart pumping even through the most melancholic of moments in the movie. In the end, the “Challengers” will have tossed your heart around enough that you’ll end up cheering like you were at the game itself.