Challengers is about passion. One character doesn’t have enough of it. Another has too much of it. And a third is denied it. Tennis is the perfect game for this story because as much as you’re competing against someone else you’re also competing against yourself. Art’s struggles on the court reflect a collapse of confidence in his personal life. Much of the film is about establishing why his confidence has shattered and bringing him to a point of catharsis and breakthrough that ties back to his relationship with his wife, Tashi, and his former best friend, Patrick.
The writer of Challengers, Justin Kuritzkes, is married to writer-director Celine Song. Song’s first movie, Past Lives, was an autobiographical account of an emotional situation between her, Kuritzkes, and Song’s childhood sweetheart. Now Kuritzkes first movie is a fictional drama about a woman, her husband, and her ex. Some will dismiss the connection. Or find it irrelevant or unnecessary. But putting the two films into conversation is pretty fascinating. We discuss in-detail below.
