Challengers

How this film uses it

Every relationship in the film runs through all 3 of them. Tashi plays the 2 men against each other, and their friendship is its own kind of romance. Guadagnino has said that in a love triangle, all the corners touch. Your loyalty keeps moving because each of them has a fair claim.

Where to see it

The hotel room in 2006. Tashi kisses the 2 young men, then leads them into kissing each other before she ends the night.

How this film uses it

The film keeps cutting between the 2019 final and the 13 years that led to it. Each flashback explains a look or a gesture you just saw on court. By the last point, every rally carries all of their history.

Where to see it

The Challenger final in New Rochelle. As Art and Patrick trade points, the film cuts back to their junior days, Tashi's knee injury at Stanford and the affairs that broke the trio apart.

How this film uses it

In the final minutes, the camera goes places a camera shouldn't. It looks up at the players from beneath the court and rides along as the ball, flying back and forth between them. The ball shots were too fast to film for real, so they were finished with visual effects.

Where to see it

The tiebreak at the end of the final. The shots switch between the ball's point of view and the view from under the court as the rally gets more frantic.

How this film uses it

Guadagnino asked Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for a very loud techno score, inspired by Berlin clubs and 90s raves. It pounds under the tennis and under the glances between the 3 leads. The music keeps telling you these 3 are always competing, on court and off.

Where to see it

The tennis matches. The score kicks in hard during rallies, so the points feel like a night at a club.