Yeah x10
Not that one can or should base much of anything off of their feelings toward how something is advertised, but the trailer for Challengers (2024) did nothing for me. I haven’t watched Euphoria nor have I seen any Spider-Man movies after Tobey’s run, so Zendaya wasn’t a draw. The two lead dudes, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor (happy belated birthday, Josh!), well… I think Letterboxd user emmy quagliani sums it up best:
But director Luca Guadagnino is something special. His last few films left a big impression on me, so I had to consider that he wouldn’t possibly create a movie that was downright terrible, would he? And so I went by myself - my wife also not enthused by the trailer - to see Challengers.
When the movie ended, I was absolutely giddy and grinning like an idiot. I got home, sat down next to my wife, and after a few minutes I said “I gotta tell you, it was really fuckin’ good.” (Where the comma is in that sentence is roughly where I became teary-eyed and started to choke up for reasons that are still a mystery to me.)
I was texting with a friend last week, and she’d just seen Challengers herself. She mentioned that she wasn’t too familiar Luca’s work, and I told her:
Of course I’ll go see a new film from Finchy or PTA. OF COURSE I’m excited to see what Wes Anderson does next. But Luca and Yorgos are telling interesting stories in interesting ways and the films(!)… they’re sticking with me for days after seeing them in ways that make me feel whole again.
I saw Challengers for a second time, this time with my wife; I still left pumped up by it, and my wife liked it too. A few days later, I was making plans with a friend and texted him:
We didn’t go, but I would. I would go see it again.