Love game for Zendaya: 'Challengers' is the sexiest tennis drama yet

Sweaty bodies grunting during tennis. Then more of the same away from the court in cheap motels and student rooms.

"Challengers" is the story of how a love triangle plays out on the tennis court, in a stylish and steamy film directed by Luca Guadagnino, who many will recall made "Call Me by Your Name."

Starring Zendaya and Josh O'Connor, "Challengers" is more than just an erotic film. Guadagnino has created a highly entertaining work packed with suspense that explores desire, power and control on multiple levels.

The film centres on tennis pro played by Zendaya, who is becoming one of the most sought-after stars in Hollywood. She recently starred in "Dune: Part Two" and viewers will also recognise her from "Spider-Man" films and series "Euphoria."

She features in almost every scene in "Challengers," starring as a highly driven player who exploits two men's infatuation to achieve her goals.

Playing former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan, whose injury forces her to abandon her career, she becomes a coach for her successful husband. Tennis pro Art, played by Mike Faist who we know from "West Side Story," is on a losing streak. Tashi cooks up a comeback plan, persuading him to join a lower-league tournament to regain his former strength.

There, Art is pitted against Patrick (Josh O'Connor, "The Crown"), his former best friend. We discover how their friendship foundered over his relationship with Tashi, who Patrick also dated in the past. Neither of the men ever really got over her.

Now, Art is in a wholly different league to his former friend in sporting terms - though he never managed to beat Patrick.

The film uses tennis as a metaphor to explore power dynamics as the men compete on and off the court. As in his past films, Guadagnino tells a story of disaster and also delves into homoeroticism and queer love. He masterfully builds up tension, on the court and off, between the players.

"Tennis in this film is really just a metaphor for power, and power dynamics amongst people who lean on each other, maybe a little bit too much," Zendaya says of the film in a press release.

Guadagnino had no idea about tennis before making the film, he says. "But my job as a filmmaker is to study and discover things I didn't know before. It was a great opportunity for me to understand how the dynamic of desire, and the dynamics of control and self-control, are mirrored in the beauty and athleticism of the game of tennis."

The film jumps between different times. We see how the two once intimate friends met and pursued Tashi. In one memorable scene, the three young athletes drink beer in a hotel room just after meeting. Both men are eager to seduce Tashi and all three sit on the bed, the men on either side of her.

She says she will only date the man who wins the tennis game the following day.

Without the two men becoming aware of it, Tashi makes Patrick and Art kiss each other instead of her. The camera glides from the men to Tashi's face as she leans back and grins roguishly.

The camera work is one of the many impressive aspects of the film. Sometimes the audience does not get a glimpse of an exciting match on the court, but sees only the heads of the spectators swishing back and forth.

At times the tennis ball comes hurtling directly into the camera. At others we see beads of sweat running down the actors' bodies, displayed in meticulous detail.

All this is powered by an electro soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails musician Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The film works well on numerous levels but the strongest element is the protagonist. "Years before shooting this movie I met Zendaya at an event," the director says. "I spent the evening sitting beside her and was fascinated by this young woman who could command the gaze of multitudes and yet be so completely real and graceful."

Of the role, he says: "It would be very easy to make Tashi into a one-sided character, simply a woman of strong will. But Zendaya does the opposite — she brings a sense of control and a sense of power, while at the same time she developed a lot of sense of fragility within that strength that Tashi exhibits."