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5 months ago

Challengers

a review by Horseface

A story about a sociopathic, egocentric, racist narcissist who - not knowing what love is - treats two young men who both fall in love with her as pawns in a twisted game of life.

The havoc she wreaks, and the lives she break, are of no concern to her, as she continues on and on trying to satisfy her quench for power, control, and admiration.

It's not that I necessarily have a problem with films spun around an antagonist, or with demonic female characters, there's just something about the way it is on display in this film that makes me nauseous and tired. Perhaps it's the poor writing, or the lack of any real protagonist, as the two who are supposedly our protagonists are really willing victims, so it's hard to feel for them. Maybe it's the disorganized structure of the script. And pairing it with an atrocius score certainly doesn't help.

Oh, and the supposed "tennis" they're playing is so far detached from actual tennis that you can't help but laugh out loud at times when the film is trying to be very dramatic. Quite unfortunate.

I do think the three main actors do a good job, and I'll gladly watch them in something else in the future. Especially our antagonist (assuming she has other facial expressions than sulking) and the dark-haired protagonist.