Challengers

Guadagnino has made a film about three people who cannot say what they want, so instead they hit a ball at each other for thirteen years. It is funny, it is mean, and it is shot like a heist.

The Reznor and Ross score is doing so much heavy lifting it should get a credit as a fourth character. A qualifying match on a public court sounds, thanks to the music, like a plot to overthrow a government.

Zendaya has the hardest job and the best performance. Tashi is not likeable, is not trying to be, and the film never once apologises for her, which is far rarer than it should be.

The back-and-forth timeline is mostly justified. Mostly. There are one or two jumps that exist purely because jumping is fun.

The final point is one of the most ridiculous, gleeful things put in a mainstream film recently. We stood up. In our own living room. Alone.