Warning: This post contains spoilers for Challengers.
Challengers director Luca Guadagnino opens up about the ending of the recently released romantic sports-drama, and how the ambiguous final moments serve its legacy well. Starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, the movie follows a love triangle between three professional tennis players, two of whom get married, igniting personal and professional rivalries. Challengers has received strong reviews, and even ranked as #1 at the box office during the traditionally slow April period. The movie concludes with an ambiguous ending, choosing not to reveal who won the grudge match between Patrick and Art.
In an interview with EW, Guadagnino weighed in on the Challengers ending and gave his explanation of the final moments. The movie ends precisely as Art crashes into Patrick on the tennis court, falling into his arms as Tashi cheers on the sidelines. No winner is declared, but the whole movie hypes up the importance of who becomes the victor. Guadagnino revealed that the important part of the story was not who won, but the trio being back together. Read the Call Me by Your Name director’s comments below:
Part of Challengers‘ strength as a movie is through how the story develops, and how the ending fulfills the promise of the premise. As Guadagnino suggests, the ambiguity of the ending feeds into what is important in the movie: the relationship between the trio. The winner is almost irrelevant, and audiences don’t get to find out the result, because it doesn’t matter. All of them are back together, and that tension and chemistry is palpable.
So many movies lose their audience with the ending, which either disappoints, contradicts, or feels like it hasn’t been earned. The reason Challengers seems to have worked well is that Guadagnino, and writer Justin Kuritzkes, choose to let the audience decide how some of the elements of the story end, which could only lead to more discussion. No stranger to building tension and developing complicated relationship dynamics, most of Guadagnino’s best movies explore these kinds of themes, and Challengers is no different.
Whether the ending of the movie is enough to make Challengers a modern classic remains to be seen, and time will tell how it is viewed retrospectively. However, buoyed by a strong performance from rising star Zendaya, intimate direction from Guadagnino, and Kuritzkes’s strong script, the movie is faring well with audiences. As it sparks impassioned debate and speculation, Challengers marks a strong entry in the filmography of all those involved.
Source: EW