Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Challengers!
Summary
- The ending of Challengers is purposely abrupt to provide catharsis for the audience, focusing on the emotional climax rather than the match outcome.
- Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes believes the true resolution lies in characters expressing themselves through playing tennis, not in winning.
- Kuritzkes aims for the audience to experience a moment of revelation or catharsis in the movie's ending, seeking emotional impact over a clear resolution.
the Challengers ending culminates in a tense final match between Patrick and Art, with the two embracing mid-match but cutting abruptly before a winner can be revealed.
In an interview with Today in honor of Challengers' release, Kuritzkes opened up about the movie's ending. The debuting screenwriter explained that the conclusion was a way of providing catharsis for the audience, noting that the importance is more about what the match and moment means for the characters than anything else. Check out his full quote below:
The question of "Who wins the match?" just felt so totally irrelevant... I knew that the movie (was) over the moment all their cards are out on the table. In many ways, this is a movie about people who can only really speak their hearts on the tennis court, through action, through playing. There’s so many things that they want to say to each other, there’s so many things they want to understand about each other, or recognize about each other — that they can only really get to when they’re playing. [Tashi just wanted] some good f------ tennis. I think, by the end, for me, they’re playing all of a sudden.
Art and Patrick are playing a real point, and somehow Tashi is playing, too. So the movie’s over. Those people, they exist the moment we meet them, and they stop existing the moment we leave... I go to movies to be pushed towards a moment of catharsis, or a moment of revelation, or something. That’s the thing I’m seeking after: that moment. That moment should feel like a gust of wind. Once it hits you, you got what you came for.
Challengers' Ending Isn't About Tennis
The Final Act Is About The Romantic Side Of The Movie
Every character in Challengers' cast is exceptionally dedicated to tennis. Having spent so many years of their life training and fighting for a chance to become legends in the sport, their friendships are entirely predicated on the game. They have only ever communicated through their matches, which is exactly what makes the final match so compelling. It is an opportunity for Patrick and Art to rekindle their friendship, while Tashi celebrates, and it serves as an effective conclusion without revealing the winner of the match.
Tennis brought the friend group together, but it had also caused constant in-fighting.
Because tennis is not the primary concern of Challengers' ending, showing the conclusion of the match would be irrelevant. Tennis brought the friend group together, but it had also caused constant in-fighting. After Tashi's injury and the development of the cast's professional careers, their enjoyment of the sport was clouded by the loss of their friendships. The final match gave them a chance to reconnect, and that was the sole purpose of the ending.
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Art and Patrick spent ample time preparing before the climax, yet it was the emotional preparation that was most essential. The climax brought the trio back together and provided that necessary catharsis for viewers. The actual winner is irrelevant, as it will do little to progress their character development. The romantic and platonic connections provided progression, rather than the game itself. Instead, Tashi, Patrick, and Art can play one final metaphorical match together, which is exactly what Kuritzkes wanted when writing the Challengers ending.
Source: Today
Challengers
- Release Date
- April 26, 2024
- Runtime
- 131 Minutes
- Director
- Luca Guadagnino
WHERE TO WATCH
Challengers follows tennis player-turned-coach Tashi as she transforms her husband Art into a Grand Slam champion. To revitalize his career, she enters him in a lower-tier tournament where he confronts his past, facing both his former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.
- Writers
- Justin Kuritzkes
- Studio(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Pascal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Amazon MGM Studios
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