Challengers
Challengersbeing close out at the 97th Academy Awards is the most crying rebuff from the 2025 Oscars , specially considering the film was a clear deary to really make headway in some categories . star Zendaya , Josh O’Connor , and Mike Faist , Challengersis an vivid character drama focusing on the passion trigon that emerges between two estimable booster and a phenom in the world of lawn tennis . Released to rave reviews , Challengerswas a bonafide smashwhen it was release , make over $ 96 million at the global box office .
While 2024 ’s cinematic field was full of other strong films , Challengers ' success made it a likely Oscar competition . Or at least that ’s what many expected before the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced , which revealed thatChallengershad been completely keep out out by the Oscars . It ’s a real shame , too , as the strongest elements ofChallengersdeserved acknowledgment from the academy — and was actually a supposed ( and true ) frontrunner in one specific family .
Challengers Deserved Multiple Oscars Nominations
ChallengersWould Have Made A Fitting Academy Award Contender
Challengerswas a solid film that did n’t merit to be shut out at the 97th Academy Awards . The critically acclaimedChallengershad the critical hold to be an honor contender , with a very impressive 88 % positive score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer . The performance in the movie , specially Zendaya ’s deceptively layered manipulator Tashi , were uniformly telling , the form of roles that typically garner nominations . The film was a firm drama , with a solid script and crisp direction that was a box spot success when it debut during the summer of 2024 .
Challengers sees the ups and downs of vivid relationships within the tennis world . We break down the picture ’s biggest end development and more .
Even if the plastered contest for Best Picture or the various pretend categories made a nomination improbable , the two undecomposed element of the film were found in the below - the - tune family . The editing by Marco Costa is crisp and effective , turning tennis matches into clear metaphors for sexual stress and simmering rivalry . It ’s an effective showcase from the editor program , particularly give the non - linear story that would have been clunky in lesser hand . Even more frustrative is the lack of nominating address for Best Original Score , a class that it seemed predestined to win before being shut out of the nominations .
Challengers Should Be Winning Best Original Score At The Oscars 2025
ChallengersInitially Seemed Like A Frontrunner For The Original Score Oscar
Composed by Nine Inch Nails bandmates Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross , the score toChallengerswas one of the musical high spot of cinema in 2024 . The duad , who had previously won the Best Original Score Oscar for their work onThe Social NetworkandSoul , seemed like they were assure to earn nomination for their piece of work inChallengers.Their triumph in the same family at the Golden Globesonly seemed to reinforce this unmistakable eventuality .
The grievance toChallengerswas one of the most celebrated aspect of the celluloid , a techno - inspired solicitation of medicine that elevated the engagement on and off the tourist court . Challengerswas vastly improve by the music which utterly highlighted the shatter friendships and unexpected contention of the film . Challengershad one of the dear original scores of 2024 , and yet the motion picture was apparently forgotten when it came time to determine nominating address . Challengerswas even on the shortlist for nominating speech in the class , but was left out in the coldness despite being a stand - out in the field .
Why Wasn’t Challengers Nominated?
ChallengersMight Have Lost Out On Oscar Nominations For Multiple Reasons
Challengersdidn’t receive a individual Academy Award nominating address , which is a genuine surprise given the vital accolades and box seat place success it relish in the beginning in the twelvemonth . The film may have been free too betimes in the year , leaving it to be overshadowed by other high - profile picture show released closer to the typical award time of year . As a result , more overt musicals likeWickedandEmilia Pérez(both of which were nominated in the category ) might have stolen attention . Reznor and Ross being previous winners might have also convinced Academy voters to embrace other God Almighty over them .
It ’s a shame that the good element ofChallengersdidn’t get a chance to gain ground an Oscar it decidedly merit .
The snub may have been part of an overall rebuttal toChallengersdirector Luca Guadagnino , who also conk out to garner any nominating address for his other acclaimed 2024 film , Queer . It ’s possible thatChallengers , an overtly sexualized film , might have been snubbed for the same ground that Nicole Kidman’sBabygirlwas also shut out of nominations . While sexual activity is a big element of film likeAnoraandEmilia Pérez , neither film is so deep stock-still in it . Whatever the reason is , it ’s a pity that the best element ofChallengersdidn’t get a opportunity to win an Oscar it definitely deserved .
Your Rating
Your input has not been saved
Cast
rival follows lawn tennis player - turned - handler Tashi as she transform her hubby Art into a Grand Slam fighter . To revitalise his life history , she enter him in a grim - tier up tourney where he confronts his past , confront both his former best friend and Tashi ’s ex-husband - boyfriend .
Challengers follows tennis player-turned-coach Tashi as she transforms her husband Art into a Grand Slam champion. To revitalize his career, she enters him in a lower-tier tournament where he confronts his past, facing both his former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.
