‘The Challengers’ review: Steamy Zendaya is this year’s ‘Saltburn’

When “Challengers” hits Prime Video after its theatrical release, I suspect the reaction will echo last year’s most controversial film, “Saltburn.”

Like Emerald Fennell’s kaleidoscopic mystery, “Challengers” is at once ingenious, addictive, and beguiling. The drooling viewer thinks it’s one thing, confirms it’s another, and then leaves with a completely different theory.

There are more similarities. Directed by Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”), the film features hot young stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in various states of undress, and the open-endedness of their characters will either intrigue or infuriate you.

Love The Challengers or hate it – and I’m looking forward to the angry emails from the latter camp – you’ll definitely want to talk about it. Isn’t that half the fun?

The delicious and devilish film, which intermittently jumps back and forth through 13 years of events, follows three accomplished young tennis players on the verge of turning pro.

There are best friends and doubles partners, Patrick Zweig (O’Connor) and Art Donaldson (Fest) – truly inspiring fake tennis names – and force of nature Tashi Duncan (Zendaya).

Despite being a teenager with no Grand Slam titles, Tashi has garnered plenty of high-profile endorsements and is widely a*sumed to be the next big thing in the sport. Think of Coco Gauff a few years ago.

The boys, competitive in more ways than one, eagerly pursue the phenomenon, and later that night in their hotel room, pose a tempting challenge: the player who wins the men’s final gets her number.

However, their scandalous story is not told linearly. More than a decade in the future, down-on-his-luck Patrick sleeps in his car and plays mini-challenge tournaments to get money to buy dinner.

A devastating injury k**led Tashi’s career, while her una*suming husband, Art, became a multiple Grand Slam winner and began to struggle and contemplate retirement. Tashi, who cares more about victory than romantic love, is his evil coach.

Then, Art and Patrick – now arch-enemies – unexpectedly face off in the Challenge Tournament. And all sorts of dormant tensions between the three athletes resurface.

Guadagnino relishes strange relationships, such as the forbidden age-segregation of “Call Me By Your Name” and the smitten cannibals of “Bones and All.”

On the surface, “Challengers” may seem like your average love triangle movie, but on the face of it, it’s much more complicated than that. There’s a “Will they?” Isn’t it?” atmosphere with almost everyone.

Tennis, mistakenly viewed by many as a polite pastime in country clubs, is viewed as violent and animalistic, a blood sport based on revenge and repressed desire.

To embody this beautifully, director and cinematographer Sayombo Mukdeeprom shoots the matches in stunning ways. During one moment, we watch from the perspective of the ball being brutally beaten by the two men.

Using words rather than rackets, the three actors attack each other with their tactical and conspiratorial performances.

Tashi, who talks about tennis more than her marriage or child, only cares about winning. Even s*x for her is a form of matchmaking. Zendaya, cast to perfection, is siren-like and terrifying — a true “coffee is only for close” kind of person.

And O’Connor and Feast, who I bet will explode in a similar way to Barry Keoghan, form a believable bond that, as their friendship fades, grows stronger.

Because “Challengers” is, at its core, a sports movie, the final scene will raise some eyebrows because the end result isn’t entirely clear.

However – I could be wrong! – After the high-stakes tiebreaker at the end, I came away confident that something vital had been fixed, not broken.