Directed by Luca Guadagnino — Screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes.

The Palermo-born Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino is fast rising into the ranks of becoming one of my favorite current-day European filmmakers. His transformative and beautiful Call Me By Your Name, of his Desire trilogy, blew me away in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. While I’m not sure I like it more than the film he remade, Guadagnino’s reworking of Suspiria had a vibe and a climax that has made certain chilling images stick with me. Then a couple of years ago, he reteamed with Timothée Chalamet to make a sensational genre-bending cannibalistic romance film, in Bones and All, which is probably more of a cult film than anything that would appeal to a wide audience. His latest film, however, is easily Guadagnino’s most accessible film yet. While I don’t think it’s his best film, it’s easily one of the most entertaining and inventively shot films I’ve seen this year. Challengers is a stylistic, sexy, and sweaty sports love triangle drama that gets the most out of the subgenres it fits in.

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