The Chaotic ‘Challengers’ Soundtrack Is Maddingly Perfect

The big picture

• The soundtrack of
  Challengers
  which mixes classical music and EDM, reflects the clashing personalities and inner turmoil of the characters.
• Music creates anxiety and tension, enhances non-verbal communication, and adds depth to key moments in the film.
• The techno soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross invites the audience to feel the rhythm of the tennis match, reflecting the chaotic yet stable nature of relationships.

Challengersdirected by Luca Guadagninois an exciting story of jealousy, sex and tennis that follows Josh O'Connoris Patrick and Mike Faist's Art, best friends turned bitter rivals, as they battle on and off the court for the attention of Zendaya's Tashi. Challengers has received glowing reviews, and Zendaya has been praised for her role as a manipulative, tennis-obsessed protégé who can no longer play after an injury in college. However, the soundtrack, created by Nine inch nails members Trent Reznor i Atticus Ross — the Oscar-winning minds behind soundtracks like The Social Network — has also become a fascinating talking point for audiences. The heavy EDM music featured seems more suited to your local nightclub, while the classical music that Reznor and Ross also feature on the soundtrack is called the “eye” of an EDM “storm.”

Guadagnino told Reznor and Ross that the keywords of the soundtrack were “endless homoerotic desire”. That last word—desire—and the madness it induces, is where the soundtrack comes in Challengers Comes home. In the moments when Tashi, Art or Patrick are just sitting still in a tennis match, the exciting bass-heavy, pounding EDM plays. It creates terrible anxiety, forcing the audience to join the crazewhich is perfect for Challengers.

Why Reznor and Ross Mixed Classical and EDM in 'Challengers'

Typically, a film's soundtrack is expected to stick to a similar musical style or vibe, perhaps switching genres from time to time, but never extravagantly. The soundtrack is also expected to blend seamlessly into the scenes, sometimes so that the audience doesn't even notice the music creeping in. Reznor and Ross looked at those expectations and threw them out the window. In challengers, the music is sometimes classical, providing a beautiful juxtaposition of a character's surroundings, such as when Tashi and Patrick stare at each other during a storm. Other times, Reznor and Ross' EDM tracks will play during a tennis match, where silence is normally called for. It can be an annoying and flashy mix, but sometimes disturbing your audience is the best way to make them aware of the character's inner turmoil.

Obviously, classical music and EDM music don't belong together. You wouldn't expect to walk into a nightclub and hear Mozart. But that's precisely why the mix of styles works Challengers — collide in the same way that the characters do. Patrick is a rich kid who can't take tennis seriously, Art is a hopeless romantic and Tashi is a cold obsessive who only thinks about her sport. These three are complete opposites of each other, but as Luca Guadagnino proves in the end, they bring out the best in each other in the same way that classical and EDM songs do in the Challengers soundtrack.

The 'Challengers' soundtrack allows Tashi, Patrick and Art to communicate in silence

Justin Kuritzkes He recently explained that when he was writing Challengers, he found the non-verbal communication on the tennis court fascinating. It is this fascination that led him to write the moment in the final scene where Patrick indicates, through an impersonation of Art's service, that he had slept with Tashi the night before. However, it's the moment before Patrick's service when the audience is informed that some kind of madness has taken over Patrick, and it comes courtesy of EDM music playing unnaturally as Patrick stares silently at Tashi, while Art look across the track.

The music allows the look shared by Patrick, Tashi and Art to invoke great anxiety in the audience, who now know what Patrick is going to do before he does it. The heartbeat tells the audience not only that a significant event is about to take place, but that it won't be pleasant for Art or Tashi. The juxtaposition of violent music and the serene tennis court it's almost an insult to the very nature of tennis. The soundtrack itself raises the stakes. Throughout everything Challengers, the public has fallen in love with tennis. Now it seems that the music, combined with Patrick's actions, will tear the fabric of the game. It makes the audience want to yell at the movie to stop the music and continue the match. It's a brilliant moment of storytelling that builds tension in the scene, and the build-up is not through words or actions, but through the music.

EDM music never gives the audience the release they want. It just keeps rising and rising until the film's final moment where Tashi roars her approval after Art and Patrick share a brilliant deciding point. The music plays throughout this point, beating the same rhythm as the ball as it is hit back and forth, Tashi's head constantly turning to follow the point. It is Reznor and Ross' techno soundtrack that invites the audience to literally feel the rhythm of the rally and feel how it is both chaotic and constant.

In a way, that's what Zendaya's Tashi alludes to above Challengers when he says that tennis is like a relationship. Considering the relations of Tashi a challengers, that means it's toxic yet beautiful: a complete juxtaposition of what's expected, but also something I'd want forever once I tasted it. That's exactly what music is about Challengers is. It goes completely against what was expected and yet leaves the audience wanting more. Although challengers' The ending is already discussed, it is clear that Tashi's roar is the definitive release of the soundtrack. Challengers has been building Finally, it offers an outlet not only for the characters, but also for the audience, as well as a release from those techno beats.

Challengers now showing in theaters across the United States

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