The writer of 'Challengers' explains that ending
In celebration of 'Challengers' season, I interviewed screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes.
The number of thirsty, overheated, absolutely feral Challengers-related tweets that I’ve seen since the weekend is evidence of a new truth in the universe: To watch Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis movie, is to immediately need more Challengers in your life. This is why, after seeing it for a second time on Saturday, I spent Sunday listening to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s impeccable techno soundtrack, so that I could keep replaying the movie in my head without paying for another ticket. And, yeah, so that I could feel like a hot professional athlete while sweating it out on a long run in 80-degree weather. Whatever! Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor aren’t real tennis stars either!
If you also wish to remain in the world of Challengers a little longer, I encourage you to check out my Vanity Fair interview with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, who talked to me about crafting the movie’s electrifying ending. I’m usually out here begging for clicks, but if you haven’t seen Challengers, please refrain from reading this article, lest the scene lose its impact. Once you’ve watched it, we can discuss.
I’ll share one tidbit from my Kuritzkes interview that didn’t make it into the story. He became obsessed with tennis in 2018, after watching Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams’s U.S. Open final, and started writing Challengers in 2021. Even after the seed of the story took hold, it took him a long time to start writing because he loved the sport too much. “I almost didn’t even want to write the movie. I didn’t want to pollute my fandom,” he told me. “It did pollute it. I still love tennis, but the purity of that fandom is gone.”
I appreciated that. I’m constantly weighing whether I want to write about an obsession and risk souring it for myself. I usually do, because passion for a topic almost always makes for a better story. Sometimes you ruin the thing for good, but most of the time, you recover your ability to enjoy it after a post-publication cooling-off period, albeit with more of a critical eye than before.
I think Kuritzkes made the right call, given how the final product turned out. Challengers isn’t a perfect movie, but it is a perfect moviegoing experience. At the press screening I attended in early April, I could practically feel the people around me vibrating with energy. Challengers is deliriously sweaty, bursting with adrenaline and desire. This is Guadagnino’s sweet spot: He’s a master at creating movies that feel physical, full of dancing, eating, and gorgeous settings. (The flip side of being so plugged into the sensual world, it seems, is his enduring interest in body horror: cannibalism, broken bones, excavated hearts, etc.) At their best, Guadagnino’s movies make you want to get out of your head — off your phone — and into the real world. They’re not always nice, but they make you want to live.
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Eliza