‘Challengers’ Reveals a Fresh, Grittier Aspect of Zendaya

A close up of Zendaya in 'Challengers'

There are roughly 47,000—oh, wait, a new Netflix Original just dropped; make that 47,001—TV shows and movies coming out each week. At Obsessed, we consider it our social duty to help you see the best and skip the rest.

We’ve already got a variety of in-depth, exclusive coverage on all of your streaming favorites and new releases, but sometimes what you’re looking for is a simple Do or Don’t. That’s why we created See/Skip, to tell you exactly what our writers think you should See and what you can Skip from the past week’s crowded entertainment landscape.

Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O'Connor in 'Challengers'

©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collectio

See: Challengers

Challengers is sexy, sweaty, and dangerous, aka the most fun you’ll have in a theater all season. The psychosexual tennis drama boasts three scintillating star performances, but it’s the career-best turn by Zendaya as a ruthless schemer that’ll have everyone talking.

Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:

“The orgasmic groaning and grunting are part of tennis’ appeal. They reflect the intensity of the sport: how hard players have to hit the ball; how fast they have to dash from one end of the court to the other; how carefully they have to avoid slipping on their own sweat, dripping off their body and onto the ground in the punishing heat of the sun. Just making contact between the ball and racket is enough primal satisfaction to rival any roll in the hay. A loud, irrepressible moan serves the same purpose in tennis as it does in sex. The noise is both a gasp of pleasure and a way to catch your breath to ensure the experience lasts as long as it can.

There is plenty of this rapture in Challengers, both on and off the court. Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, in theaters April 26, is a fluid, psychosexual heater paced as fast and as thrilling as any tennis tournament. Drama is spiked across the net and volleyed back and forth between the movie’s three players in a fiery match with everything at stake. In the film, tennis is very much a three-person sport, and every new serve feels like it’s for the match point. Advantage oscillates between a different person with each scene. Heat swells, tensions flare, and skin is slick with perspiration, but fatigue never once sets in—for the characters or the audience.”