Challengers
New film by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) about tennis coach Tashi trying to get her husband Art – a tennis champion out of shape – back on top. Tensions run high when Art faces off against Tashi’s ex.
In CHALLENGERS, Zendaya (recently seen in DUNE: PART TWO) portrays Tashi, a tennis player who has become a coach after an injury marked the end of her professional career. She is married to a tennis champion who is going through a difficult period with poor results. Tashi’s attempts to help her husband recover take a surprising turn when he is pitted against Patrick, his former best friend and Tashi’s ex. Soon, sexual tensions between the three start rising.
Luca Guadagnino (A BIGGER SPLASH, IO SONO L'AMORE) calls his new film a sexy comedy. The Italian has built a reputation as a master stylist with an impeccable sense of aesthetics. For CHALLENGERS, he collaborated with renowned fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Spanish fashion house Loewe. This is the first time for Anderson to design costumes for a film, but he has often shown his great love for cinema in his fashion (for example, he has already referenced Studio Ghibli’s animation films and the horror classic CARRIE in his collections).
CHALLENGERS was originally planned as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival, but its release was postponed due to the strike of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA. (mv)