Players prepare for the final match on the tennis court, in the film,”Challengers”. (Anna S./ Buchhof Bulletin)
By Anna S., Grade 9
If you want to watch a movie that is action packed with sports, romance, and is honestly iconic, the new movie, “Challengers”, which came out on April 25th, 2024, starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, is a perfect example of this. It is a cinematic tennis masterpiece that looks at relationships but also the power of tennis. Challengers includes the challenges of a sport, relationships, commitment and how these things tie together to create problems in the real world.
This movie was very highly anticipated by everyone around the world, including me, and other students in MIS.
The movie is about the dynamic between a trio, with the two best friends, Art and Patrick, and the talented female tennis player, Tashi and how these two best friends both develop feelings for Tashi. This leads to big arguments between the two best friends and leaves Tashi allowing them to fight for her throughout the movie, even through all she really seems to care about is tennis.
This movie to me was a good balance of relationship and tennis but also showed how those two things contract with each other, making this film amazing. I personally really liked the different perspectives and time stamps in this film because it created an amazing build up to the final match, creating anticipation throughout the film.
Hannah N., Grade 9,. and Isabella D., Grade 9, both enjoyed the movie.
Isabella’s favorite character was one of the main characters, Art, the highly-skilled tennis player that is a part of the main love triangle.
“He was a determined guy, in relationship ways and tennis ways, making him a very likeable character because of his friendly and strong personality”, Isabella D. said.
Hannah’s favorite character was also Art because she said that, “he was the least problematic throughout the film and his personality drawed him to me in the film”.
Now continuing with their favorite scene in the film, Isabella says (Possible Spoiler Ahead), that her favorite scene was the last scene, whenever, “Art spiked the last ball while jumping dramatically over the net, basically right into Patrick’s arms” which created a good final ending to the movie with their friendship being reconnected but in a dramatic way.
Hannah said that the last scene was also one of her favorites, but the scene where the, and I quote, “the camera fly’s around as if it the tennis ball in a high intense match” was her favorite scene in the movie because of all the different shots it gave the viewer.
Tashi, played by Zendaya, anticipated the final match in a high climax scene from the film “Challengers”. (Anna S./ Buchhof Bulletin)
And the last question that Isabella D. and Hannah N. answered for us today was, what was their favorite relationship in this movie? This movie had a lot of different relationships between people, or even the sport that they love.
Isabella said that her favorite relationship was between Art and Patrick because, “they were best friends in the beginning of the film, but because of Tashi, there bond grows out. But in the end of the film, you can see the way that they look at each other, they know that their bond can’t be broken, even if it a friendship or a relationship type of connection that they have”.
Hannah’s favorite relationship in the film was young Patrick and Art because, “they seemed like they had such a pure and fun friendship when they were younger” which I could not agree with more.
The film Challengers really seemed to have very different opinions, but they are all very nice ways to look at the story because this movie has so many ways to look at it! So, if you are or even if you aren’t interested in tennis, you should see the movie Challengers because it is an amazing way of both worlds of sports and romance with a perfect combination. But be prepared to want to become a tennis player after watching!