Critics are calling Luca Guadagnino's sexy tennis drama 'Challengers' the 'horniest movie of the year'

"The tennis is shot with formidable emotional urgency." — Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

"Guadagnino, for his part, treats what could be a visually straightforward relationship/sports drama as a laboratory, where he tinkers with unlikely ways to communicate action and emotion on screen. — Tasha Robinson, Polygon

"Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's nimble shooting style brings excitement to the matches, inventively switching up the angles to bolster the energy. And the intoxication of his camera with the leads' physicality is entirely contagious." — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"Guadagnino frames his three actors in many close-ups and medium shots where their eyes and the way they ogle each other tell the story. In return, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's camera ogles the actors' bodies, capturing every flicker of light in their eyes, every trembling lip and sweaty brow. All of this makes for a movie high on sexual heat, something not seen much in contemporary American cinema." — Murtada Elfadl, AV Club

"Like seeing a well-balanced team dominate in triples, the film is a true three-hander, with everyone performing at the top of their game." — Rocco T. Thompson, Slant magazine

"That script is a terrific three-course meal for Faist and O'Connor. They get to trade off face and heel roles from scene to scene and era to era, as Art and Patrick help and hurt each other in equal measure. But it's an absolute smorgasbord for Zendaya, who even in starring roles has never been given this much room to stretch." — Tasha Robinson, Polygon

"All three lead actors carry themselves like movie stars." — Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

"Zendaya, O'Connor, and Faist play off each other charmingly, particularly in the flashbacks when their characters are younger. Those scenes are lively and jocular and the three actors bring into them combustible chemistry." — Murtada Elfadl, AV Club

"Zendaya is the linchpin. Her work here, on the heels of 'Dune: Part Two,' cements her status as a born Movie Star. She moves with the decisive ferocity of a warrior on the court and the floating grace of a ballerina elsewhere." — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"The trio of actors all share a crackling chemistry, but the electricity between O'Connor and Faist is strongest. Both men engage in passionate scenes with Zendaya, making out in intense close-ups and tearing clothes off with palpable want. But none of those more physical scenes sear with the level of heat that O'Connor and Faist create with a mere shared glance." — Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly

"Justin Kuritzkes's twisty script leaves us guessing as the trio's mind games wreak havoc on each other and the audience all at once." — Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly

"What keeps the movie humming is the skill with which Kuritzkes' script draws out the complications in the trio's relationships." — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"Constructed like a tennis competition, Justin Kuritzkes' screenplay ricochets back and forth through time, asking us to pivot our brains the way audiences do at the movie's opening challenger match." — Peter Debruge, Variety

"Kuritzkes' script nimbly leaps back and forth between their teens and 20s and the present, never missing a beat to put them — and us — through the emotional wringer. And as these three flirt, fumble, fuck, and break each others' hearts, 'Challenger's' tantalizes with its ambush of raw emotions and gnarled repressions." — Kristy Puchko, Mashable

"One of the best surprises turns out to be the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, a propulsive techno score that does a lot of the work to keep the tennis scenes moving." — Caryn James, BBC

"'Challengers's' simple conceit, thrillingly executed, is that every conversation is a tennis match, and every tennis match is a sex scene. The film's galvanizing score, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, unifies both." — Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

"Propelling the on-court action is Reznor and Ross's score, bringing a level of bombast to the sports action that at times threatens to overwhelm the action, without ever actually proving distracting." — Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence

"The electronic, staccato rhythm mimics the rapid back-and-forth of tennis while also catapulting us into a sound that is inherently sexy in the ways it evokes the hypnotic trance of a dance club." — Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly

"There are no explicit sex scenes or orgasms on screen, and yet this is the horniest movie of the year." — Mireia Mullor, Digital Spy

"The promotional materials for 'Challengers' make it out to be slightly more erotically charged than what we actually get on screen; there's certainly sexual content, but it's not as explicit as you'd expect, and it's all very rooted in these characters and their relationships..." — Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence

"Those hoping for a threesome throwdown might initially be disappointed here, as there is no literal group sex — neither on screen nor implied offscreen. However, using tennis as a metaphor, every grunt, groan, and drip of sweat (all of which are generously dispersed) has a sexual implication." — Kristy Puchko, Mashable

"There isn't an inch of nudity apart from some extras in the locker room showers, and yet Guadagnino shoots the climactic match with a stylistic vulgarity that suggests what sports might look like if Brazzers suddenly took over for ESPN." — David Ehrlich, IndieWire

"Moment by moment, line by line and scene by scene, 'Challengers' delivers sexiness and laughs, intrigue and resentment, and Guadagnino's signature is there in the intensity, the closeups and the music stabs." — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"Smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, 'Challengers' is arguably Luca Guadagnino's most purely pleasurable film to date; it's certainly his lightest and most playful." — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"Behind every high-speed volley and smashed racket courses raw emotion, resulting in the steamiest (and funniest) sports-centric love triangle since 'Bull Durham.' With some romantic movies, you'd do well to pack tissues. In the case of 'Challengers,' bring a towel. It's that rare film where you'll work up a sweat just from spectating." — Peter Debruge, Variety

"Anchored by three arresting performances and playfully experimental direction, 'Challengers' is fresh, exhilarating, and energetic." — Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly