Luca Guadagnino’s CHALLENGERS with Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist was supposed to open the Venice Film Festival last year. Its release got postponed during the SAG-AFTRA strike, and it is finally in theaters. A cleverly constructed script, three skilled actors bursting with chemistry, the high energy score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Guadagnino’s ability to fuse everything into a romantic and thrilling whole make Challengers one of the best films of the year so far. A scene with Caetano Veloso’s song Pecado was a highlight.
