Challengers writer Justin Kuritzkes is opening up about the film’s confusing ending. Starring Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, Challengers premiered on April 26, 2024, and was set in the complicated world of professional tennis. The premise focuses on the love triangle between three young tennis players. While Challengers performed well at the box office and collected $92.4 million worldwide, the film’s climax has left the fans divided. But that was always the intention!
In an interview with PEOPLE, the film’s writer Justin Kuritzkes shared that by the end of the film, all three characters are talking to each other again. According to Kuritzkes, the climax leaves “all their cards on the table.” The writer believes that the final match between Art (Faist) and Patrick (O’Connor) becomes irrelevant because they are finally playing the best tennis of their lives. At the same time, Tashi’s (Zendaya) character is vicariously living through their passion for the game. As far as the rest of their lives go, Kuritzkes thinks that it’s fun for the audience to come up with their own stories.
The writer, who has also collaborated with Guadagnino on the 2024 film Queer, shared his approach to crafting a script. Kuritzkes believes that when a film ends, the characters stop existing. This finality is what he loves about storytelling. While he admitted that the audience is free to imagine what happens beyond the climax, he believes that films are supposed to be a “little window into something much bigger.” Once he gets what he comes for, and the story comes to an end, he is happy.
The Love Triangle in ‘Challengers’ Was Inspired by the Game of Tennis
Image via Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures
During the interview, Kuritzkes also opened up about the inspiration behind Challengers. The writer confessed that the love triangle between the three main characters reflects the dynamics of tennis. While doing his research for the film, the writer learned that while tennis looks like an individual sport, the players are never really alone. This is what inspired Zendaya’s character, a former player turned coach. In his exact words, Tashis character was “somebody sitting in the box who couldn’t play anymore and in some sense had to find a way to play again.”
The rhythm of tennis also defined the structure of the film. The writer revealed that he got the idea for Challengers a few years before he started writing it. Kuritzkes really wanted to find out what would make tennis better. Soon enough, he realized that the answer was letting the audience know exactly what was at stake at every moment of the match. This is why the film begins with a tennis match in the present and keeps flashing back to the past to reveal why the game matters so much.
The writer also wanted to explore what it means to be an athlete. He explained that an athlete is born when they are of legal age and people can make money off of them. As soon as they hit their 30s, they are no longer in their best form, which is when they become “useless.” This short timeline became central to the film to highlight the challenges of such a fleeting career.
Challengers is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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Challengers |
|---|---|
| Cast | Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist |
| Release Date | September 15, 2024 |
| Stream On | Likely Amazon Prime Video after theatrical release |
| Directed by | Luca Guadagnino |
| Produced by | Amy Pascal, Luca Guadagnino |
| Based On | Original screenplay by Justin Kuritz |
| Plot Summary | A love triangle set against the world of competitive tennis, blending romance and drama. |
| Musical Elements | Score composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross |
| Current Status | Released in theaters September 15, 2024; expected to stream on Prime Video soon. |
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