Challengers (2024)

Challengers

• This is only my second Luca Guadagnino film, and he’s already on the rise as one of my favorite filmmakers. He’s not quite there yet, but after seeing ‘Call Me by Your Name’ and now this, I’m really digging his style and vision. The deep use of emotion for his characters is captivating and heart pulling, and it’s what propels them so much. This one in particular is one of the best movies of the year, for many reasons. The story is fantastic, and the back and forth between past and present makes everything fit into place. If it was linear, the movie would’ve been just alright. But starting off seeing the characters where they are, and then slowly learning how they got there was so well put together. The film editing and storytelling surpasses almost every movie this year. The writing around each character was fantastic, as well as the whole timeline. Everything about it was great. The chemistry between the actors was fantastic and gripping, and translating that to the characters puts the movie over the top. Especially between Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor. I seriously want to see them in some more movies together. Everything felt so natural and it’s one of the best pairings I’ve ever seen in a movie. Zendaya was really great too, though her character really ticked me off. Especially being a man. The last two things I’ll talk about are the cinematography and the music. This is one of the best shot sports films I’ve ever seen, if not one of the best shot films of all time. Especially the last 20ish minutes. You’re placed right in the middle of everything, and you become absorbed into the film. The characters get up close and personal with you, just like you’re sitting on the sideline watching the match. The attention to detail is amazing. And the soundtrack was the cherry on top. The song choices were super well picked, and the score from Reznor and Ross gives the movie a modern yet classy sound. Overall, this is easily a top five movie of the year, if not this decade. It’s emotional, exciting, and just flat out gripping. You feel every emotion in this movie, and I’d recommend it to all drama/sports fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go check it out now!