Challengers

J'attendais ce film depuis longtemps et je n'ai pas été déçu – bien au contraire. Je ne me suis pas ennuyé un seul instant, malgré ma préférence pour les métrages courts. C'est dynamique, le tempo est approprié et la musique d'accompagnement est palpitante. Selon moi, Zendaya offre, en parallèle avec Euphoria, sa meilleure performance d'actrice. Son interprétation fait de Tashi une protagoniste tranchante, glaciale, dominante et diablement sexy. Elle domine tout le film par sa performance, même si la distribution masculine n'est pas en reste. Josh O'Connor, tout aussi dominant, a gagné ma sympathie. L'ensemble se voit couronner par son final et, grâce à Call Me By Your Name, on savait déjà que le réalisateur maîtrise les conclusions. En l'occurrence, il termine en beauté et de façon artistique l'un des films les plus intéressants de l'année. (29/04/2024)

A heated tennis love story full of ego, unrequited love and the desire to win. Zendaya, as the tennis goddess who gets her hand pecked by Prince Charles of the Decreased Manners and his good second in command, is flawless. Ditto for the plot, where you don't know how it's all going to turn out until the last moment. I could have done with fewer slow-motion shots, they do make sense for filming a fast-paced sport like tennis to dramatize the hits, but by the end Luca Guadagnino uses them so much that it paradoxically dulls the climax of the story a bit. Yet the matches otherwise don't lack punch at all, as both the score and the soundtrack, as well as the flourishes with the camera during each exchange, give the film a liveliness that I've missed in tennis films for many years. (25/04/2024)

I like sports dramas and I was really looking forward to Challengers since the first trailer. Luca Guadagnino is a guarantee of quality filmmaking and he delivers a solid sports romance that, although a little scrappy at times in the second half, but Zendaya pulls all the attention to herself. The finale is nicely suspenseful, nice camera work, decent performances and overall a good film, but one I won't be watching again (I enjoyed the Williams sisters with Will Smith a tad more, there were stronger emotions there as well). 70% (20/05/2024)

I haven't been this conflicted in a cinema for a long time and I haven't asked myself so often whether I like what I'm watching or whether it annoys me. Luca Guadagnino simply evokes in me with each new film either a slight interest, a slight disinterest, or just this complicated love-hate relationship. In his filmography, it just flies back and forth in both directions for me, like the tennis balls here. I guess it just fits. However, with the conclusion of this film, everything just falls into place so bombastically, and it hits such a smash that I'm going to allow it to advance to the next round after all. (26/05/2024)

I'm not a fan of sports-themed films, but Challengers managed to win me over thanks to its story, the core of which revolved around a dynamic and plastic love triangle, whose individual vertices interacted with each other at the speed of a tennis ball. I commend the structure of the plot, where the framework was the decisive match, while the filler was what led to this great match. In fact, I ended up liking the sporting aspect of the film - the quick shots between faces, ball hits and rackets really drew me into the action, almost onto the tennis court, you could say. Last but not least, I have to highlight the incredible soundtrack, whose electronic tones fit the story perfectly. (16/05/2024)