After viewing Luca Guadagnino’s latest masterpiece, Challengers, I was reminded of and given more reasons to love him– and I just couldn’t get those disco-tech tunes out of my head. However, beyond the mass-appeal, tabloid-tease marketing surrounding Zendaya and her character, Tashi’s, hot rodent boyfriends, played by actors Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, there is a boiling undercurrent of hard, nuanced truth that cuts through the heart of the movie. The intensity of the film is conveyed by its pulsating rhythms. The music reveals the reality, and its noise won’t let you rest. This reflects the characters’ edginess in the world of professional tennis, both on and off the court. Champions can’t afford to stop because the game never ends.
Zendaya
Mike Faist
Josh O'Connor
Bryan Doo
Shane T Harris
Nada Despotovich
Joan Mcshane
Chris Fowler
Mary Joe Fernández
A.J. Lister
Connor Aulson
Guadagnino’s signature placement of funky, electronic disco-tech indicates psychological, social, and emotional pressure throughout. This is laid out for us within the first ten minutes of the film. The tone was set from the first scene at the match in New Rochelle. As the tension rose, operatic voices subtly echoed in and out of the 70’s core melody while the ball bounced back and forth between the two players.
"Challengers" - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Then suddenly, the music abruptly came to a halt as we cut to Art (Mike Faist) and Tashi’s bedroom at 5:30 am.
Shortly thereafter, Art walks down a long hall to another match two weeks earlier, and his wife instructs him to “decimate that bitch,” referring to his opponent– and the disco-tech music plays again. Art leaves the long hall to play the match when the music jolts to a stop yet again, and we’re taken to Art and Tashi’s living room, guided by the sharp sound of the ball bouncing off of Art’s racket on their TV screen. When we see them rewatching matches, we understand more than ever that their lives truly revolve around tennis– or, more accurately, the game. There is no room for anything else, including their young daughter, who is often supervised by Tashi’s mother.
"It's Getting Hot in Here" - Nelly
Beyond its trademark suave, static beats, Challengers contains many other great musical moments within its run. The awkward mood at the party for the USTA tennis teens, where both boys stand there drooling over Zendaya’s Tashi from a distance, was amplified by Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot in Here.”
Then, the romantic yet ominous Reznor and Ross track "L'eouf" plays when the three young athletes chat on the beach after the party, followed by the three-way love scene in the hotel room set to English R&B and electronica artist Blood Orange "Uncle ACE," is an evident foreshadowing.
"L'eouf" - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
"Uncle ACE" - Blood Orange
Lastly, Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Tashi’s final kiss in the parking lot to a children’s choir song speaks volumes without dialogue.
"Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: A New Year Carol" - Benjamin Britten, Choir of Downside School
Playing to the Beat
The audio combined with the visuals in Challengers seamlessly spread the story's messages, which are impossible to put into language. Needless to say, Academy Award-winning music composer duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the band Nine Inch Nails surely knew what they were doing when they put this one together. The harmonious sequences make the film’s flashbacks, flashforwards, and time transitions feel natural.
As the two men embrace at the end of the movie’s penultimate match, we see that they are in touch with the power of love that transcends tennis, but for Tashi, the game of tennis is love. The final frame of Tashi celebrating her husband’s carefully orchestrated win reveals her reality and tells the truth for all of them.
"Challengers: Match Point" - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
The first three words I would use to describe Luca Guadagnino’s style are organic, sensual, and focused. His work is so beautiful that I am inclined to channel undergrad courses where I was forced to type up academic, theoretical essays on cinema. This speaks volumes because I certainly don’t miss academic film papers, but I see no other way to analyze his extraordinary, unique choices and intentions fully. Guadagnino’s immaculate structure and eye for detail in Challengers and beyond demands an elaborate critical write-up. Something that encapsulates and reflects his awe-inspiring craftsmanship.
"Yeah x10" - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
If you haven’t seen Challengers or any of Guadagnino’s filmography and lean more toward mainstream blockbuster films, this is the perfect introduction to his work. This piece of art and the music that supported it left me chomping at the bit for his next movie. Luca, please call me and let me know when it’s out.
Check out the full Challengers soundtrack here.