Note: Challengers spoilers follow
Since the teaser trailer for Challengers was released back in spring 2023, there's been rousing support for Luca Guadagnino's latest film, with most of us understandably excited for the love triangle and the teased kiss between Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist.
As Guadagnino's films are so often a mastery of queer intimacy and seduction, we were, to say the least, ready to be titillated.
What to Read Next
Of course, the kiss between Art (Faist) and Patrick (O'Connor) is part of the hype, but our fascination goes deeper as the movie breaks the heterosexual formula of love triangles in mainstream cinema.
The love triangle has typically taken a rather rigid form, whether that be the wife and the mistress waiting for Newland to follow his heart in The Age of Innocence (1994), Mark and Daniel fighting in the street in Bridget Jones' Diary (2001) or Bella struggling to decide between a vampire and werewolf in Twilight (2008).
No matter the set up, the history of fiction's greatest love triangles plays out much the same: romantic rivals focus all their energy on the object of their affection without a second glance at one another.
It's a shame that the love triangle has been stalled in its own limitations, not only because playing with that extra layer of tension makes for great cinema, but truly the love triangle is never fully straight.
As Challengers writer Justin Kuritzkes explained to Variety: "What's true about a love triangle is that every love triangle is by its nature queer... Whether you intend to be or not, you're in an intimate relationship with two other people."
Challengers focuses on the career-long tension between three professional tennis players, Tashi Duncan (played by Zendaya), Patrick Zweig (O'Connor) and Art Donaldson (Faist), delivering just as Kuritzkes promised.
Stripped back to the plot's bare bones it may be about two men fighting for the affections of one woman, but the homoerotic tension between Patrick and Art is muscle memory for the rival athletes.
Guadagnino directs the fission between the pair as playing out through Patrick's taunting swagger, which matches the character's grandstanding style as a tennis player. This involves Patrick flaunting his member, either metaphorically – with multiple phallic foods – or in the confines of the men's sauna.
As if Josh O'Connor's cheeky grin while chewing on a banana or a churro isn't enough, the pair's reciprocal grunts on the court share the harmony of two passionate lovers.
Moments after the kiss between Patrick and Art (which is a passionate surprise to all players), Tashi stops the threesome from going ahead because she won't be a "homewrecker".
It's in this hotel room that we learn the men's early sexual history, a shared masturbation that they put down to education rather than attraction. It's clear that the two friends' history is more complicated than the platonic nature they insist on.
From this moment on, Challengers becomes much more than just a battle for Tashi's love, but an exploration of intimacy, jealousy and repressed urges from every side.
While neither of the men openly identify with the label bisexual (and nor should they have to) it's clear from their lifelong rivalry that it's about more than their competition on the court. Patrick is seen swiping right on Tinder with no gendered limitations, while Art's erection after their steamy kiss says it all.
There's clearly something between them that they refuse to confront. Patrick literally slaps Art's crotch, to quickly change the tension in the air from sizzling back to childishly playful.
Challengers certainly exists amongst an unconventional resurgence of the romantic trio, following neatly on from the raw depictions of last year's Passages and Past Lives. However, Guadagnino's interest in toying with the brotherly bond of Patrick and Art feels closer to films like The Dreamers (2003) and, especially, Y Tu Mamá También (2001).
Patrick and Art's relationship shares much of the boyish intimacy between Y Tu Mamá También's Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael García Bernal), mostly because they ignorantly insist that their relationship is heterosexual as they vie for Luisa's (Maribel Verdú) attention. But much like Tashi, Luisa realises her sexual magnitude has the potential to break up a lifelong bond.
These queerer throuples have existed mostly in indie cinema. It's a notable moment for a love triangle that pushes past the straight boundaries previously set to be given a Hollywood budget and therefore a mainstream audience.
Luca Guadagnino is a champion of queer exploration in cinema and the fraught fast-paced tension of Challengers is no exception. What Guadagnino and Kuritzkes understood in taking on this high powered love triangle was that rarely are identities as clear cut as gay and straight.
In appreciating the nuance of each character's experience and expression, Challengers makes a welcome queer change to cinema's stagnant straight love triangles.
Challengers is out now in cinemas.
