Challengers

A closer look at the story

Tashi is a gifted tennis player whose career was cut short by an injury. Though she left the court as a player, her passion for the game never faded, and she turned to coaching. Her greatest achievement is her husband, Art, whom she has turned into a world-famous Grand Slam champion. Lately, however, Art has been losing match after match. Wanting to snap him out of the slump, Tashi enters him in a "Challenger" tournament, one of the lowest rungs of professional tennis. There, Art finds himself facing, across the net, his former best friend, who also happens to be Tashi's ex-boyfriend. The match on court becomes a reckoning of a rivalry, a friendship and a love that have lasted for years. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes, this 132-minute 2024 romantic drama stars Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor.