Challengers (2024)

Challengers stretches one tennis match across 131 minutes and thirteen years, and that’s either genius or a dare. Luca Guadagnino keeps leaving a small Challenger final in New Rochelle to jump back in time, and a couple of those detours stall right when the match gets tense. Mike Faist plays Art, a champion in a slump whose wife and coach, Tashi, entered him in a tournament way below his level. Zendaya makes Tashi the sharpest mind in every room. Josh O’Connor’s Patrick, Art’s old doubles partner, is broke, living out of his car and loving every second of getting under Art’s skin. A tiny habit with a tennis ball becomes the sneakiest plot device of the year, and the pounding score and restless editing make each rally feel personal. It holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and made $96.1 million worldwide on a reported $55M. An 8.3 because it turns a sports movie into a three-way chess game. $414 says you watch real tennis next week and feel let down that nobody in the stands is secretly running the match.

What works: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play off each other like a perfectly balanced rally, and the thumping score and editing turn the final into a thriller.

What doesn’t: The constant jumps back in time sometimes cut away from the final just as it builds, and the middle stretch drags a little.

Who it’s for: Anyone who loves a rivalry movie, plus tennis fans who want to see the sport filmed like a showdown.