Warning: SPOILERS for Challengers are in play. If you haven’t seen this sporting drama just yet, you’ve been warned.
There is a lot to talk about when it comes to director Luca Guadagnino’s white hot personal drama Challengers. With the trio of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist consistently serving twist, betrayals and revealing flashbacks throughout this 2024 movie, the web woven between these parties is pretty tangled. However, once the unique finale to writer Justin Kuritzkes’ steamy saga plays out, barely a word is said. And at the same time, what’s left unspoken speaks volumes.
That in particular is what we’re here to discuss today, which means it’s time to get into some spoilers. Don’t worry, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you can always punch out before we get started. We also have a Challengers review that you can enjoy that's free of spoilers, but full of hype. But from this point forward, it’s game on, so you’ve been warned!
Challengers’ Ending Is A Mostly Dialogue-Free Affair
The entire story of Challengers is told against the backdrop of, what else, a Challenger match of tennis. On one side is Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) a tennis pro who has found himself in a bit of a slump, while on the opposite side is Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), his ex-partner in doubles tennis and childhood friend.
Made into somewhat rivals after their lives were caught up in that of rising tennis star/coach Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya), we see the two men go back and forth trying to win her favor. But ultimately, the scene that decides both of their fates is a mostly dialogue-free affair. The only language on display is some choice gestures, and a game of tennis that goes from spiteful to downright vicious.
In a refreshing move, Challengers leads to a somewhat ambiguous ending that doesn’t include long exposition dumps from any party. Instead, it’s a blistering game of personal stakes, accompanied by an insanely awesome score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
How Patrick And Art’s "Signal" Said It All
After having a tryst with Tashi the night before the match, Patrick swore that he’d let her husband win their impending match. But as he follows through on his promise in the final round, Josh O’Connor’s character uses a signal we’d previously seen him share with Mike Faist, admitting he slept with Zendaya’s Tashi after winning her number. Much as it did 13 years ago, that signal told Art that Patrick had once again slept with Tashi, which then prompts him to let Patrick even up the score once more.
This is a pretty big callback to Challengers’ 2006 flashbacks, as Patrick and Art had their own discussion of who should throw the match, since they were both so good to begin with. As we'll see on a recurring basis, Tashi is the greatest source of competitive spirit in this seemingly fated group of people.
Also it should be noted that early on in the story, the young Tashi Duncan likens the game of tennis to sex in her eyes. With the two subjects inexorably linked, everything from that point forward kind of goes hand in hand.
After all of the talking that we’ve seen these three characters do throughout Challengers, the film doesn’t merely rely on its protagonists to say what they’ve done. All the words they needed were spoken in the past, helping set up one magnificent showdown that doesn’t wear its result on its sleeve.
Tashi May Have Set This Whole Thing Up To Reunite Art And Patrick
Something else that’s interesting to note is the notion that Tashi may have pulled the strings of fate to make Challengers’ climax happen in the first place. Earlier in the movie, we see Art and his wife trying to figure out a strategy to get his tennis mojo back, and what does Tashi suggest? This Challenger match in New Rochelle, New York, which Patrick just so happened to be a part of.
Now I’m not saying that Zendaya’s queen of the court specifically knew that Patrick was going to be part of that specific match. However, she must have known that this level of play was the particular orbit that her ex-boyfriend was currently circling. What better motivation for her flagging tennis pro husband to up his game than to challenge a former friend and rival in a huge public forum?
Then again, in a rare instance of warmth, Tashi Donaldson may have sorted another complication in Challengers’ entangled love story in the process as well. But, of course, she got what may have been the best tennis match of her life out of the deal; so it's not like Tashi walked away empty-handed.
Art And Patrick Are The Real Love Story At Challengers’ Heart
Reading between the lines of Challengers, it seems pretty obvious that Art and Patrick love each other. Though they both pursue and are romantically involved with Tashi at some point, the jealousy involved comes from a pretty special place. All throughout the movie, Zendaya keeps saying that she never wanted to be a home-wrecker, which eventually applies to Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor’s breakup as a team.
If we’re reading Challengers as a love story, then the final round is the usual grand gesture that sees our lovers in each other’s arms once again. Which is what literally happens to Art and Patrick in the final moments of the movie, complete with Tashi screaming in delight. After over a decade of hurt feelings, the wounds look like they might finally start healing. Though if we’re to take Josh O’Connor’s Challengers story comments as gospel, this may just be a fluid throuple waiting to take shape.
Why Tashi’s Unspoken Motivations Are The Key To Understanding Challengers
So after all of this, why would the woman who doesn’t even want to be loved center her motivations around potentially rekindling this flame between Art and Patrick? I personally think that Tashi feels she was righting a wrong she may have already been punished for years ago thanks to her career-ending injury shown prominently in Challengers’ trailer.
The big reason I mention this is because of how the film cuts to both Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist’s footwork during their final match, invoking similar images of when Zendaya’s on-screen accident took place. You’re just waiting for someone to get hurt, and eventually no one does. That to me says that all is right with the world in Art and Patrick’s match, and that Tashi has absolved herself of being that home-wrecker.
Or, another way of looking at it is that she sees Art and Patrick’s relationship/love as something that creates perfect tennis. This is a team that never should have split, and by putting them back together, both Art and Patrick could have even better careers in tennis. Though Art was looking to retire before the New Rochelle match had concluded, he might just change his mind. And what’s more, Patrick’s request to be coached by Tashi just might come true as well. The boys can play at the top of their games, with their coach proudly watching every moment.
That, of course, opens up a whole bunch of other questions worth asking, like do Art and Tashi stay together now that Patrick is in the picture? I don’t think it’d be as fun to behold the uber-kinetic ending of Challengers if we knew exactly what was going on at all times. Part of the fun is the ambiguity, and you wouldn’t have that sort of fun if we were dealing with a more traditional ending that spelt it all out in pat dialogue.
With that in mind, you should go see Challengers for yourself, whether it’s to revisit the court or pick up the racket for the first time. Just remember to keep your eyes on what’s really happening, in-between cold as ice one-liners and the flirtatious back and forth this script revels in delivering. Also, try not to get hung up on the actual tennis on display, because if Serena Williams could spot the inaccuracies, then you’ll probably be pretty distracted yourself.
