A torrid tennis drama and a tale of friendship set in Greece are both winners, saysLarushka Ivan-Zadeh
FILM
Challengers ★★★★★ Two Tickets to Greece ★★★★
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg ★★★★
If the mere thought of this summer’s championships at Wimbledon gets you tingling, prepare to be almost indecently excited at the prospect after watching Challengers: it’s hands down the steamiest tennis movie of all time.
The tight plot pings around a love triangle. Aged 18, Tashi Duncan (Hollywood starlet du jour Zendaya) was a dazzling and dedicated tennis prodigy with everything to play for, until an injury cruelly knocked her out of the game.
Instead, Tashi turns coach, channelling her blazing ambition into creating and then marrying US champion Art Donaldson (West Side Story’s Mike Faist), who is now on a losing streak. To boost his confidence, Tashi enters Art as a wild card into a regional tournament. However, the strategy backfires when he finds himself facing off against Patrick (Josh O’Connor, The Crown, The Durrells), a washed-up contender who was once his best friend – and Tashi’s old flame.
Brilliantly directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), it’s a perfect match of European art-house sensibilities with Hollywood glossiness, and you don’t need to love tennis to swoon over it. Tennis fans will appreciate how Challengers bottles the game’s unique appeal: the competitive tension, the passion, the precision, the strength, the psychology and, let’s be honest, the magnificently toned thighs of the players.
The young cast are sensational, each a rising star in their own right. And be assured, it’s not too graphic: the bedroom antics are really just foreplay to the sweaty on-court action. Prepare to feel the heat.
Is it just me, or does everyone seem be going to Greece this year? If you’ve not already booked your obligatory week of island-hopping then Two Tickets to Greece is an appealing try-before-you-fly.
A celebration of rekindling old friendships, this genial French comedy sees two long-lost school chums, free-spirited Magalie (Call My Agent!’s Laure Calamy) and uptight Blandine (Olivia Côte, resembling an anxious Uma Thurman) forcibly reunited on a bucket-list trip to Greece. The trip is the doing of Blandine
