Luca Guadagnino directs Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in this sexually charged sports movie following a lust triangle between three tennis hopefuls over thirteen years of bedroom highs and career lows.

Extreme, bright and confident filmmaking that tarts up a rather predictable plot. Is the intrusive hard beat rave score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross necessary? I don’t know but I was bouncing in my seat and happily ignoring the dialogue whenever it piped up. Is the scene with all the extras’ penises necessary? Yeah… if anything it showed what a tease the rest of the movie is considering how close to nudity the three leads skate into throughout but teasingly never achieve. Was the time rally, back-n-forth storytelling necessary? It is about tennis and thrusty humping… so… yeah… duh! What about the pathetic fallacy hurricane that leads into the sunny finale? Necessary? Well… maybe not. What about every trick shot in the book being whipped out and waggled about for that patience testing sunny finale? Is that necessary? Maximalist cinema. Gotta get the kids in somehow. Zendaya’s first movie that belongs to her and I’m slowly getting on board with ‘arthouse Ron Howard’ Guadagnino’s hyped offering. Would watch again.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Wimbledon (2004)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/