The Hollywood star is the headliner of a new film combining love triangle and tennis. It can be seen in cinemas this week.
Just two months after the release of Dune, Part II, Zendaya is back on the big screen for a new film highly anticipated by the public, but especially by critics. This new cinema release to be discovered this week promises an explosive cocktail for spectators: a love triangle against the backdrop of a tennis competition, as ambiguous as it is disturbing.
In Challengers, the star of the series Euphoria plays Tashi, a rising tennis star with a bright future who catches the eye of two other players: Art Donaldson and Patrick Sweigh. And she intends to take advantage of it for her purposes. Because the two friends, one in search of constant validation, the other showing selfish impulsiveness, then find themselves plunged into a toxic love triangle which will play out both behind the scenes, but above all on the lessons of tennis.
Behind the cameras, moviegoers will recognize the style of Luca Guadagnino. The Italian director has already made a name for himself for the queer drama Call me by your name, which revealed Timothée Chalamet to the general public in 2017, and who surprised spectators with a cannibalistic road trip in Bones and All in 2022 (still with Timothée Chalamet).
The first critics have already shared their opinions before the film's release in theaters this Wednesday. And suffice to say that Luca Guadagnino's bet is successful for Le Parisien, which hails "a dazzling film with a tennis backdrop", "very modern". For its part, Sud Ouest describes a film that is “impactful, ambiguous and wildly sexy”, while Première considers that it is a “(finally) winning return for the director”. 20 Minutes, however, warns spectators: the film features “clean eroticism”, “fans of very hot scenes risk being disappointed”. Conversely, Le Figaro did not hide its disappointment by evoking a “pop and queer Jules and Jim that does not disrupt the genre”.
While Zendaya is probably the best-known star of the Challengers love triangle, she plays opposite two rising Hollywood stars. Art is played by Mike Faist, who made a name for himself on the Broadway stage, before brilliantly playing the leader of the Jet in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story released in 2021.
For his part, Josh O'Connor completes the trio. Netflix subscribers will easily recognize him, since he played Prince Charles at the start of his marriage to Diana in two seasons of The Crown. The film Challengers by Luca Guadagnino, starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, can only be seen in cinemas from this Wednesday, April 24.
