The final moments of the tennis match explained by the director

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Challengers.

Challengers Director Luca Guadagnino talks 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 film follows a love triangle between three professional tennis players, two of whom marry, sparking personal and professional rivalries. Challengers received very good reviews and even ranked #1 at the box office during the traditionally slow April period. The film ends with an ambiguous ending, choosing not to reveal who won the grudge match between Patrick and Art.

In an interview with THISGuadagnino intervened Challengers ending and gave his explanation of the final moments. The film ends precisely at the moment when Art crashes into Patrick on the tennis court, falling into his arms while Tashi cheers from the sidelines. No winner is declared, but the entire film emphasizes the importance of who becomes the winner. Guadagnino revealed that the important part of the story was not who won, but the trio together. Read it Call me by your name director’s comments below:

For 13 years, they have been miming the possibility of returning to this hotel room to rediscover this beautiful moment of budding desires and innocence. And at the same time, feeling comfortable with each other, like they were there. So throughout the arc, that’s what they’re trying to do. And finally, with the rivalry at this heightened level, the triangle finally found itself in the same place, but now on the field.

I needed to make this very, very visually amplified and really immersive for the audience to understand
how much it meant to them not to win over the other, but to be together again, all of them.

Why The Challengers Ending Works So Well

Challengers’ ambiguous approach helps him in many ways

Part of ChallengersThe strength of a film lies in how the story develops and how the ending delivers on the promise of the premise. As Guadagnino suggests, the ambiguity of the ending fuels what is important in the film: the relationship between the trio. The winner is virtually irrelevant and the public doesn’t know the outcome because it doesn’t matter. They’re all together again, and that tension and chemistry is palpable.

Many films lose their audience with the ending, which either disappoints, contradicts, or feels unearned. The reason Challengers seems to have worked well, is that Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes choose to let the audience decide how certain elements of the story end., which could only lead to more discussions. No stranger to building tension and developing complex relationship dynamics, many of Guadagnino’s best films explore these kinds of themes, and Challengers is no different.

Is the end of the film enough to make Challengers a modern classic remains to be seen, and time will tell how it will be perceived in retrospect. However, buoyed by a strong performance from rising star Zendaya, intimate direction from Guadagnino, and Kuritzkes’ strong screenplay, the film is doing well with audiences. While it sparks heated debate and speculation, Challengers marks a strong entry into the filmography of all the actors.

Source: THIS

Challengers

Challengers is a romantic sports comedy from director Luca Guadagnino. The film stars Zendaya as a retired tennis legend who, while trying to coach her husband and lead him to victory in an upcoming tennis match, discovers that his next opponent is her ex-lover.