Reviews forChallengers
NEM SEXO GAY SERIA TÃO GAY
as 4,5 estrelas vão única e especificamente pros segundos finais desse filme, ONDE ELES SE SEGURAM AO INVÉS DA BOLA, de vez em quando eu lembro e não acredito que eles me deram esse orgulho, ademais até se fosse um trisal teria feito mais sentido, que relação chatinha desses três viu, haja paciência, dito isso amei
nice edit
amazing editing in the tenis scene ye ye ye ye ye eye eye eye ejfbdcbdmkdksbxjdbxudnwlxjxnslzudvwmzhfbwlzjfbwmskxnkfkejdj amazing editing in the tenis scene ye ye ye ye ye eye eye eye ejfbdcbdmkdksbxjdbxudnwlxjxnslzudvwmzhfbwlzjfbwmskxnkfkejdj djjefbkdnsksndjsksksnjdjsnwnsnsnwkskdbwb
challengers (2024)
challengers não é sobre tênis, é sobre poder. desde o início, o filme transforma cada partida em um campo de batalha emocional, onde o que tá em jogo vai muito além do placar. o triângulo central é construído com tensão o tempo todo. não existe relação estável ali, só disputa, desejo e controle. os personagens não se conectam de forma saudável, eles se provocam, se usam, se desafiam. tudo parece um jogo que nunca termina, nem fora da quadra. a busca por vencer vira quase uma obsessão, mas o filme deixa claro que ganhar não significa exatamente conquistar algo. muitas vezes, parece mais sobre provar valor, sobre não ser deixado pra trás. e isso vai corroendo tudo ao redor. o ritmo é intenso, com cortes rápidos e uma energia constante que acompanha essa competição emocional. até os momentos mais íntimos têm uma carga de disputa, como se ninguém ali conseguisse simplesmente existir sem estar tentando superar o outro. no fim, challengers fala sobre ego, desejo e controle. sobre como algumas relações são construídas na base da competição, não do afeto. é envolvente, desconfortável e te deixa com a sensação de que, naquele jogo, ninguém realmente ganha.
Hot Throuple Power Games
“You’re alone on the tennis court, there’s this one other person who cares as much as you do – but you can’t talk to them. What if you really needed to talk about something?” Despite the distance between opponents on the court, tennis seems to be a pretty intimate sport. Sure, the sweat and the grunts are contributing factors – but I think more about the constant distribution of the ball as it thwacks from one end of the court to the other, almost molding it into one sick televised relationship of sorts. Still, if you’re anything like me, then tennis isn’t anywhere near the top of your list of most entertaining sports (let alone most sports), alike Luca Guadagnino, who in spite of how confident and zoned in he is on his latest picture, said in an interview with Little White Lies, “I don’t watch tennis matches. It’s quite boring to me”. Just totally incredible words from the guy behind one of the most kinetic sport-dramas ever. With Challengers, Luca takes on the sexy-sport drama vessel from writer Justin Kuritzkes and gets freaky with just about every stylish technical aspect of the film. Tennis ball pov, smart whip pans, thumping tech house beats; it's all gloriously overwhelming to the point where you wish more films were having as much fun with their filmmaking as this. The finale alone serves as a dizzying amalgamation of everything it loves about itself; from the slow-mo to the body close-ups, the dripping sweat that falls and bounces off the camera lens – all of it is stacked against the meaty love triangle relationship that truly powers the film and makes it that much more exhilarating to watch. Because, without the three leads and the dynamics of their throupling adventures, Challengers wouldn’t simply suffice as an interesting sports drama, let alone an interesting melodrama. Kuritzkes began writing the film after being inspired by a moment during a 2018 US open match where Serena Williams was called out by the umpire for receiving coaching from the sideline. “That immediately struck me as very cinematic”, Kuritzkes relays during his interview on The Big Picture podcast. “You’re alone on the tennis court, there’s this one other person who cares as much as you do – but you can’t talk to them. What if you really needed to talk about something? And what if the person across the net was involved in that somehow?”. It’s with that idea where, and before any studio logos appear, Challengers begins: on a tennis court. We see two shadows moving slowly to the fluttering net, followed by three separate close-ups of the film’s leads, the camera fastened to their expressions; one of joy, one of exhaustion, and the last of pure intensity. The faces of Mike Faist (Art), Josh O’Connor (Patrick), and Zendaya (Tashi). Cutting frequently back to this moment, the film occupies a non-linear structure that allows the intensity to grow with each visit of the Challenger event, peeling back the layers of the throuple's relationship. The three meet at a US open event for juniors and the two boys immediately fawn over Tashi, her looks and her incredible sporting talent. Despite the homoeroticism on display between Art and Patrick – their closeness and the way the camera frames them intimately together (the two just reek of “oh, so you two aren't together?” vibes) – Tashi is still who they idolise, both sexually and as a tennis playing goddess. Thus begins the love triangle, spread over thirteen years and paying off in the most personal match of their careers. Manipulation, jealousy, and hatred, this is how Challengers succeeds with its properly felt climax, and how it reaches new heights for sport-dramas, fusing together romance, boners, psychological mind games, and an incredibly electric energy – especially when paired with the fired up tech-house score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Has there ever been a film centered on tennis with as much excitement and emotion as this? Some have likened the film's finale to that of Whiplash's, operating with the same satisfying feeling, and they weren't wrong. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why Challengers has stuck with me so vividly: its ending goes so fucking hard. And it's truly because of the depth within the non-linear flashback storytelling. This is what wasn't portrayed in the trailers, the same ones that managed to flatten the film into a different, more shallow kind of sport-melodrama. But then again, it would be impossible to exhibit the kind of exhilaration and experimentation inside the film. Towards the end, Guadagnino slows things down with a pivotal scene between Tashi and Patrick during a windstorm, cutting down the frames per second and placing a children's choir track as the sole audio. It's a jarring moment, but, despite what's happening, it feels like the right choice for the film, and for the characters. Much of Challengers is the result of a lot of great choices.
