“CHALLENGERS” IS GOOD BUT COULD BE MORE GAY... HAPPY PRIDE!!| KennieJD 

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not the casual drop “my boyfriend”… congrats queen

this feels like non-anime fans just found out why sports anime is so enjoyed

I swear this film agrees with you Kendall, that the throuple option is the best option. But yes, it could've been gayer. (Like if Tashi and Art both cheated on each other with Patrick)

Challengers is pretty muvh "This is my boyfriend and this is his boyfriend"

You forgot to talk about why the last set becomes so intense : Patrick tells Art he had sex with Tashi again, and following that Art gets his motivation back, which is why the match becomes “good tennis” and Tashi is happy.

Patrick was such a messy bisexual

‘Text msgs I sent to my boyfriend’ BOYFRIEND SINCE WHENNNNN????!?!?!

My hot take is that the final scene IS the threesome. It’s ambiguous, yeah, but I think when Tashi yells “come on!” it’s a double entendre. I really loved the ambiguity and how they didn’t give us much about the characters bc we’re able to use tiny clues to extrapolate things about them for ourselves. I think Tashi does love these boys bc she’s a fierce queen who doesn’t tolerate nonsense and I think she wouldn’t put up with them if she didn’t have feelings for them as well. I believe I saw a letterboxd review that said “everything is sex, except sex, which is tennis” and I think that’s pretty accurate. Also, the director said in an interview that for him, they all go back to the hotel room after the final scene, so 🤷‍♀️ throuple rights!

Did u miss the fact that Patrick told Art that he slept with Tashi by doing the ”ball in the center” thing? That’s why Art got mad and said ”fuck off” and that’s when he and Patrick started playing for real

Well… Amanda the Jedi isn’t gonna read the old thot next door, so I think that corner is covered by you 😂

Art says “fuck off” because of the serve that Pat did. Not because he could tell Pat was throwing the game.

Patrick’s shirt he’s always in is actually Tashi’s!!!! They switched shirts after that big fight that led to her injury, and I read this as the torch he was still carrying for her. Especially seeing Art and Tasha on the tennis court, which is what I presume his last time seeing them since Atlanta.

'Don't be scared, it's just my uterus' needs to be on a t shirt

i know everyone keeps talking about the bedroom scene, i am more fascinated by the soundtrack in challengers and patrick's smirk

21:30 Patrick wasn't "eyeing up girls," he was looking at Tashi's poster in the background. 👀

13:35 *Tashi's parents don't own that estate.* Patrick said that she'd soon make her parents millionaires, and Tashi said in the hotel room that her parents couldn't afford to send her to boarding school.

There's also something you didn't catch about the climax: Patrick isn't throwing the match at all, he misses his shots and in a last ditch effort not to lose and to destabilize Art, he uses the same gesture he did to signal Art that he slept with Tashi when they were young. We also don't know who won!

i just gotta accept that we have different tastes in movies lmaooo. this is like the 3rd review of a movie that defined me as a person and your review of it being “it was alright. 7/10” 😭😭😭😭😭😭. the way challengers had me and my queer homegirls at the EDGE of our seats. i do agree that it could’ve been more gay onscreen, but the ending very much gave “all 3 went to a hotel and had a happy ending”

Tashi wanted to be more than just a tennis player, she wasn’t obsessed until she could no longer do the only thing she could do so well at that point and so then she became miserable and obsessed. She couldn’t let it go and move on and made it everyone else’s problem. Just like every man you know from high school who didn’t do as well or couldn’t play a sport they excelled at in college for whatever reason. Anyway, 10/10 perfect movie

The way I yelled “Come On!” when I saw this video on my feed

Kenny… did you miss the fact that Patrick communicated that he and Tashi slept together via the secret racket signal? Art didn’t just decide to start missing on purpose because Pat was- he was pissed because of this new info and THAT is what pushed him to go hard in the end

I heard their hair color has an a core aspect to the complexity of the characterization of the leads. Blonde to black, having Tashi's, brown, hair between them and the many ways it changes every other scene from past to present. Tashi's "strength" is at peak when her hair is long and having that length shorten going through the years as she crosses paths with Art or Patrick. On a coordinate plane, tashi would be the vertical line, like how her seat in the final game is aligned with the fence of the court. That leaves the audience wondering where art and pat lie on the horizontal line.

I think you either love or hate what they did with the music in this movie. Personally, I thought it added so much intensity. It only gets loud in scenes where Patrick and Art are in active competition for Tashi. It feels overwhelming like the back and forth of a tennis match. But I can definitely see how some people might not like it and feel like it distracts from the actual scene

Wait... Did Kennie miss the signal that Patrick gave Art at the end? 😅

.YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!!?!?!! SINCE WHEN,CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!...💛😢

You missed the biggest part of the ending. Patrick literally told art he fcked tashi with the thing he did with the ball and racket. Throwback to the first time they did it and Art asked him to give him a sign of they did it? It ended with Art realizing Tashi ain’t shit and reconciliation with Patrick. Thats why the hug was such a big deal

Kennie finally talking about Challengers 😭🙏

I agree it could've been more gay. I loved Patrick and art together in their scenes. Real chemistry

I’m sorry- “My Uterus” dropping WHEN???

Kennie has a man now AND she's taking an edible?? Girl is giving me whiplash i still remember her thinking the dispensary was a distillery 😂😂😂

happy pride y'all!!🏳️‍🌈🖤

Twists girlies unite!! I may let these loc up honestly, I was very meticulous with my parting.

One part you might have missed is in the flashbacks art tells Patrick to give him a sign if he and Tashi slept together. In the final match Patrick shows the sign again (ball to the center of the racket or something), giving art the motivation to go all out

"She smiles for the first time in the entire movie" and during the entire hotel & party scene you couldn't wipe the giddy smile off her face if you tried.

Patrick is fully in love with Tashi - it's very clear throughout the whole movie. He would never cheat on her. He wasn't looking at other girls in the cafeteria with Art - he was looking at the Duncanator poster behind them and judging Tashi for not having gone pro sooner. Hence why he brings it up during their fight later and he asks her why she'd want to be the Duncanator beating on a girl from Pepperdine vs playing with people on her level. Tashi has the capacity to love - she loves Art and loved Patrick when she was dating him. She just loved them through tennis. Coaching Art, attempting to coach Patrick and commenting on his game. I'm surprised you didn't realize Art's conversation with Tashi over lunch was manipulative. It's the single instance in the movie where he stoops to Tashi and Patrick's level. He then does the same to Patrick in the cafeteria and essentially orchestrates and plays a large role in the fight that Patrick and Tashi had in her dorm room afterwards, effectively being the catalyst that breaks them up. It’s what allows him to “win” Tashi until Atlanta.

“Say hi, booger sugar☺️😙” so so so cute but had me dying by what that actually means. It’s so funny said in such a cutesy voice. You are a gem, Kennie. And you must be protected at all costs.

what’s funny is that its not enough tennis for tennis lovers and not enough gay for the gays, they shouldve just picked a side lmaooo

i loved the movie, especially how it takes a more old-fashioned, metaphorical, almost hitchcock-like approach to eroticism, but i agree with the criticism that it could've been gayer. i see a lot of people discuss the same thing, but they do it in a way that completely leaves out tashi. imo, the story can stay, mostly, the same, with some minor adjustments to show the guy's sexualities. to me, the ending of them hugging and tashi cheering them on, doing her trademark "come on" scream was sorta like them all ending up together. always love your reviews!!!

35:31 text messages you sent to YOUR WHAT, NOW?? Biscuits, did I miss something?

Actually something I learned is that since Art goes over the net in the end means they have to replay point. So, he didn't even win they still have to keep playing. I thought that was genius not going to lie. Plus, I find it so interesting that you didn't like the music (which i loved) and you didn't like Tashi. I loved Tashi because she's just a very blunt person and yeah it's about tennis because it was taken away from her. You see that she tries to go to Stanford and be more but then she has a career ending injury (an injury that both Art and Patrick could have got in the end since they both make the same movement that causes Tashi's) and now she's stuck in this tennis world. She never got past her injury and now she's the version of herself that she at least attempted to avoid. Plus, I think it's unfair to say she only loved tennis. I am apart of the group that believes she loves art and that she would do anything to help them both. I didn't like Art because I thought he was manipulative and played this "I'm a nice guy" persona because it benefitted him. Then he got what he wanted which was Tashi and now he can't live up to her expectations. It's like babe what did you expect??? But, he's a repressed bisexual so he has bigger problems to deal with. It definitely could've been more gay - however I think what they did was good. It was a lot more metaphorical and ambiguous but like you said depending on how you look at it it can reveal or not reveal alot of things about the movie. I think it lends itself to what I would say is the Succession crowd of psycho-character analysis - where the little things they do and say and don't say actually matter. But, if that's not your forte then yeah it's a 7/10 movie. But, for me 9/10. Minus 1 point because of the lack of overly gay.

the way i angrily checked my calendar like GIRL IT IS TUESDAY

I maintain that this movie should’ve ended with a threes*me.

When I found your channel I noticed you and Amanda covered similar movies, but I also realized y'all really do have different takes on them, and highlight different scenes. If y'all do cover the same smaller scene in the movie, yall will have different takes on it, and it gives me more context...cause im most likely am not going to watch these movies, I just like hearing y'all talk about them 🙂

the music, the hot throuple, I love everything about this movie. Also Ken, I’m also PMSing and I have been crying every single day. I get it. I absolutely get it. Stay strong, queen

There's something so healing about seeing one of my favorite creators wearing the merch of another favorite creator.

I LOVED every messy, complicated, toxic, co-dependent minute of this movie! The cinematography - outstanding. IMO, the music was used to make you feel the emotions of the characters versus the actual spoken words. The time jumps are like a tennis match (back and forth). The signal from Patrick letting Art know that he'd screwed Tashi - chef's kiss. Tashi screaming then smiling means she got her wish of just wanting to see good f***ing tennis AND the boys back together again - YES. The best film I've seen in the last few years. It's just BRILLIANT! 10/10

love the ending scene (which you missed, apparently) where Patrick does the “ball in the middle” move to signal Art that he and Tashi slept together. throwback to their younger selves when Art was pestering him about whether or not he fucкed Tashi. That “fuck off” was like “alright mf, let’s do this for real”. Patrick wasn’t trying to throw him off his game, he was more like “dude, your wife ain’t shit. if you gonna win this, do this for yourself, not her”. recall, Art wanted to retire but kept playing so Tashi could live vicariously through him.

My exact thoughts about this movie summed up in this video! The music especially was a huge distraction for me, and the ending not as fulfilling as I'd hoped. I still say I liked the film as a whole though, because it's true. Everyone performed fantastically, and the camera work was entertaining/at times kind of old school. (Side note: still patiently waiting for Kennie to discover/say she knows about that movie Adore with Naomi Watts and Robin Wright where they date each others' sons 🥴)

“JUST BE A THROUPLE!” - same thoughts here 😂 that’s what I hope happened after the credits rolled. They all get together and live out their true feelings.

I absolutely loved when Brutalizer was playing during Tashi and Pat's argument lol

Love the casual boyfriend drop 😂❤ but yes it does feel very incomplete and the audio sucks ass 🙂‍↕️

The “I told ya” shirt he got from Tasi. During the scene where art tells tasi patrick doesn’t love her, Tasi is wearing that shirt

Even if others have covered it, I like seeing different people's takes on a piece of media, especially if it's really popular or hyped in a specific way. For example, it was cool to watch Princess Weekes' video that delved into Tashi's perspective as a black woman. As a black woman myself, it was interesting to see that aspect explored since it didn't cross my mind all that much while I initially watched it. However, overall, I think my ultimate feelings about the film more align with your take, even if it happened differently for me. I had never planned on seeing this movie because from the trailers it just looked like 3 people being terrible to each other (which ultimately it kind of was) and, ironically, it was a review talking about the music that got me to see it; I actually really enjoyed the music, because I personally love when music is used in a very directed and artistic way (another recent example is like in Civil War). I get why it can put some people off, but I particularly enjoyed that aspect of the film. It's partially what got me through it. But while I can appreciate the style and direction of the film, particularly the technical aspects, in the end I was left with: "Okay. So Patrick loves Art. Art loves Tashi. Tashi loves tennis." (There are people talking about the idea that tennis loves Patrick as well, which I can also understand.) Basically, these people all love something that doesn't love them back. And while I've come to accept the ending, it wasn't my favorite ending. It was another "okay" from me. The film was good, and in a sea of pretty uninspiring films that don't take much risk, I can see why this was so refreshing. But for me it was good, not great, and in that respect I agree. 7/10 is a solid rating. However, I will say, through reading other people's reactions I can fully understand why they love the ending, which is just another reason why I enjoy seeing other people's perspectives.

I jumped on this so fast 😂❤️❤️

In the future Kennie is casually going to drop the words my husband in a video😂❤ Congratulations queen!!! The way my jaw dropped when she said my boyfriend. Love the twists!

your hair looks so good kennie🥺

my freshman year of college, Zendaya kept coming to my school to watch tennis matches and practice so the whole school was really confused. now it makes sense lol

If yall want a book that has a love triangle between two codependent guy friends and a woman (sometimes), then read The Wicker King!! it’s my favorite book of all time. same amount of codependency & tension between the male characters, but more gay!! 🤭 it was so good that I wanted to read it over the span of a week (at least) cuz I didn’t want it to end. but I prematurely finished it in two days 😔

Watching the movie 3x and missing the significance of that serve is crazy.

I will say I loved the detail that they added towards the end when Patrick does Art’s serve to tell him that he slept with his wife 😭🤚🏻

The uterus song 😂 perfection

I feel like another aspect of the challengers movie that is less talked about is the difference between passion and discipline, which is showcased through patrick and art’s personalities. This difference is emphasized in their duo names too: Fire (Patrick) and Ice (Art). And this is my own personal analysis that i’ve gotten from watching commentary vids on the movie but i feel like Tashi was the vehicle that brought the two together (passion and discipline) not just sexually but on the court too. And we see this in the final match, which was a call back to when Tashi said good tennis is not a match but a relationship. Thus, i feel like the main relationship in this film isn’t between art and patrick or art and tashi or patrick and tashi but rather between discipline and passion which are represented through art and patrick. That’s why, maybe…in my opinion, art and patrick play their best tennis when they play against each other or as a team. The two are dependent on each other in a way. because art needs patrick to spark passion in him (i.e. when patrick told art he slept w tashi before serving in the final match) and patrick needs art to remain disciplined

Di- I’m sorry did she say “let me read through the messages I sent to my BOYFRIEND”?! When did that happen?! Am I tripping? Congratulations? I would love details!!

I absolutely loved the music, I don’t know if I’m biased cause I just like the style of music anyway, but I never see movies really use it in a normal context. it’s always used if the characters are in a club or whatever, so it was interesting hearing it in a movie like this

OMG YES, WAS HOPING FOR THIS ONE

I’m so glad you talked about the music being to loud and how it just kept coming in so abruptly. And yes I agree, they needed to make us care, just a bit by letting us in to see their past, why does she only feel fulfilled with tennis? Why is art a people pleaser, why was the other guy so cool with being a bum but have a rich family? All of which there was room to talk about but that nauseating final tennis scene was what we got. Like it was good but they had room for more for sure.

If you'll want to watch a gay movie with Josh O'Connor, please watch God's own country 💖 it's a beautiful gay movie with a happy ending!! One of the best movies I have ever seen

THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR !!!! i knew you'd love this movie!

The paragraph I sent my friends 😭😭 can you tell I’ve worked at the movies from 16 through college? So these are my thoughts on challengers: Fire and ice (art and patrick) were childhood friends that started competing together in tennis doubles. After art and Patrick played that doubles match in the opening scene they were in sync with each other, and were able to grow their love of tennis together over the years. Tashii: Tashi imo represents their love for tennis, something that they once shared equally (when they were most in sync, i.e: playing doubles matches and winning together) however, they took different paths towards maintaining their “relationship” with tennis. Once they started focusing more on their solo careers / finding themselves outside of this centuries old childhood best friendship is when tashi came into their lives . Remember: For all intents and purposes, tashi is the personification of their love for tennis. On one hand you have art who went the “safe” way of going pro. You chose to go D1 at school, he followed the advice of his coaches, all the way, until the end. he showed the most “committment” to tennis. On the other hand, you have Patrick, who tried to dive straight into going pro and playing tennis. If you look closely, Tashi ends up with whoever has the most committment to tennis at the moment. The day patrick essentially said f- tennis / insinuated that he didnt want his life to strictly be about tennis during his fight with tashi, she was injured. Which imo signified that his committment to tennis had broken / suffered irreparable damage this was shown in his immediate decline in respect among his colleagues and his for the most part failure of a career despite being talented - and obviously his relationship with tashi. On the backend, you have art who is now 100% fully invested in tennis (he piques tashi’s interest) and goes on to have an amazing pro career. - this is getting long but i promise im wrapping it up - The day Art loses his confidence in tennis and doesn’t know if he wants to continue playing, Tashi -highkey- starts questioning her happiness in the relationship looking for that commitment to her (tennis) elsewhere. When art asks her if she’ll leave if he loses and she says yes i was like tashi i knew you was just a tennis ball girl ! The closing scene of them playing into hugging each other and tashi screaming represents the relationship they once shared when they had a synchronous dynamic with each other -similar to when they played doubles- coming back to life. When tashi called herself a homewrecker she really wasnt lying. The best years of their relationship was when they both loved tennis together/played & trained together. Tashi represents what their dynamic with tennis is like separately / without each other.

bro she missed so many details🙁💔 the ball in the center of the racket bit actually hurted

I JUST WATCHED THIS YESTERDAY!!!! Impeccable timing😆✨

BEEN WAITING FOR THISS

YESSSSSSS!! I’ve been waiting for this one!

OMG FINALLY!!! Ive been waiting for thiiiiis

Perfect timing for my lunch

NOT THE MUSIC SLANDER I LOVE IT SM (luv u and all your vids kennie but i literally listen to the soundtrack by itself i love it sm)

I agree, they work best a throuple! They all fulfill something in each other. Yes tennis is Tashi’s first love but I reject the notion Tashi doesn’t love each boy in some way. And the boys don’t work without Tashi. And seeing the director specifically talk about how he intended this to be a throuple/not a love triangle or a singular gay relationship, I went into the movie expecting that and I loved it. I thought it was interesting to see these people struggle with these feelings for each other. And if they knew better how to navigate themselves they could have been together happily. Ps. At the end I do believe they do come together to be in a throuple relationship. There’s a BTS shooting scene where Tashi runs out to hug both boys. Now that could have been after they called cut but I think director says they left together after that final shot

Actually the big house isn’t Tashi’s, it’s a venue that Adidas rented or something

The preview didn’t give bi, it just gave two men that were obsessed with the same woman

Ooo your hair looks SO ✨good✨! About to watch while I detangle mine lol

omg, i finally watched challengers this weekend, and my first thought was, "Did Kennie make a video about it?". i simply love hearing you talk 💖

Watching this video reminds me of that Mensies episode of New Girl. Kennie JD and Jessica Day gave me the most adequate representation of having a period. Thanks for giving us content while going through hell

miss kendall i have been waiting for you to watch and upload a video on this cause miss maam your opinion matters the most to me than any other person

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

Kennie, you look friggin cute ❤ the twists ooo

YAYYYY I WAS WAITING FOR

Fr thought you’d drop that casual “my boyfriend” and we wouldn’t notice

I have BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

Kennie I'm really loving your natural hair era! All your styles are so cute 🥰🥰

I like how Kennie's videos are both acoustic session, at-home music videos and film reviews

The way in which tennis (and to some extent Tashi) functions as the fulcrum on which the men's relationship teeters is SO FUCKING INTERESTING to me. I fucking love exploring the hazy boundaroes between platonic/romantic/sexual attraction. And god i love a messy friendship breakup/makeup. So thank you for the review Kennie, i have got to watch this thing

It ended and felt like there was a whole act missing in either the middle or the end. I don’t know. I get where guadagnino wanted to take it and his inspiration with the time hopping etc etc, but it fell flat because even at the pace he established he failed to make us ‘relate’ to the characters he made. I agree Art is the only one with enough depth - he’s the only one with an actual ARC that was intentional. He moved from below to above Pat but tbh that’s about it. Pat just fell below him (we don’t even fully get why) and Tashi remains consistent, though I think that was the point… even after her injury she doesn’t grow any remorse just a vague ‘caring’ for Art which she ‘ruins’ by cheating on him in the end

your hair looks AMAZING

ty for this bc i liked the movie but when i saw ppl calling it “genius” i had to keep my mouth shut😭

Watching ur vids was a thing with me n my ex so I couldn’t watch for a long time but I’m glad that this is the FIRST video I come back to after months of being away 😂😂

no, i agree with you in your first thoughts about the film not being "THAT FANTASTIC" and not really "THE RETURN OF TRUE CINEMA". I think it's a fun and enjoyable watch, but i believe our thirst for films other than reboots, sequels, franchises and superhero films is so so so big, that when we see a well crafted film we start crying over it. Calm down people, it's not a masterpiece, it's an ok good film AND THAT'S FINE! *also u missed the part about patrick telling art during the match about having sex with tashi. also also, i think art is a bitch horrible person as well, he started the whole argument with his sneaky comments about their relationship to both of them.

I don’t think Art starts throwing the match bc he notices Patrick is. Patrick lets Art know that he slept with Tasi by doing “Art’s serve” (a call back to when art tells him to serve like him if they slept together) and then after that information sinks in, then they start actually playing which excites Tasi bc she is watching real tennis. We don’t know who won the match tho bc art touching the net at the end would have made the point invalid.

lol you mentioning Amanda the Jedi. I watched her review and I like to hear your side so now I’m watching yours!

The uterus melon baller part had me cackling 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣 Kennie is the best!