Zendaya serves drama and desire: "Challengers" breaks VOD records

How it starts doesn't matter; what matters is how it ends. The spicy sports drama "Challengers" didn't attract much attention during its premiere weekend in cinemas. However, good reviews and viewer recommendations have made it one of the blockbusters in the first half of 2024. Now, "Challengers" is conquering the VOD market.

The success of "Challengers" is owed to positive viewer feedback, the rising stars of the younger generation, and partly to its erotic scenes. The love triangle at the heart of the film is led by Zendaya, who needs no introduction ("Euphoria," "Spider-Man," "Dune"), Mike Faist ("West Side Story"), and Josh O’Connor, who won a Golden Globe for his role as young Prince Charles in "The Crown."

The main character in "Challengers" is Tashi (Zendaya), a celebrated tennis player whose career abruptly ends. Unable to live without tennis, she becomes her husband's coach (Faist), a moderately talented player who unexpectedly reaches the finals of a prestigious tournament under her guidance. He will face his former friend and Tashi's former (both on and off the court) partner, Patrick (O’Connor). An intense drama unfolds, both on the court and in their personal lives.

As befits a story centred on a love triangle, the film is not without its steamy scenes. Zendaya noted in an interview, "We keep saying tennis is the sex in the movie, and I think tennis holds a metaphor for a lot of things: desires, passion, pain, anger, frustration. I think they all use tennis as this way of communicating with each other when they just don’t have the words."