Challengers Movie Review | Safe for Kids?

Is Challengers OK for kids? Is Challengers safe for kids? Read the Challengers Movie Review | Safe for Kids?, an honest parents guide and mom review of the all-new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Challengers 2024 romance drama film, starring Zendaya as tennis pro Tashi Duncan. No spoilers! #ChallengersMovie May contain commissioned links.

Parents Guide Challengers Movie Review | Safe for Kids?

Emotionally complex, sexually charged, and luxuriously grand – director Luca Guadagnino is known for award winning films filled with passion, romance, and a dark twist. King of the Desire trilogy – his films have intrigued audiences with high highs (“Call Me by Your Name“) and low lows (“Suspiria“). For the first time, Guadagnino is teaming up with star Zendaya…for a tennis drama?

Is Guadagnino still a pro when it comes to romance films with a twist? Or is this love triangle tennis film not grand enough for the big screen?

In this Challengers Review | Safe for Kids?, I’m breaking down the visuals, the story, a full rated R age rating explanation for violence, adult themes and language, and what kids’ age recommendation is suggested to watch in this new 2024 Challengers parents guide to the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer drama film. A no-spoiler parent review of Challengers 2024, is this Zendaya movie serving aces? Or are we all missing Guadagnino’s match point?

The Visuals

I was worried how a tennis film would present itself in IMAX. I mean – what is visually appealing beyond some of the serves on the court? However, the creative use of camera movement and angles on director Guadagnino’s part – cinematographically masterful. The build up, tension, anticipation, and intensity of energy – visually stunning and that’s beyond the tennis court.

Photosensitivity Warning. For viewers prone to epilepsy and photosensitivity, Challengers does have climactic ending scenes with dizzying and fast spinning camera movements that could be nausea inducing for some. No scenes of bright flashing or strobing lights of note.

The Story

King of the Desire trilogy Luca Guadagnino (“I Am Love“) directs Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Challengers 2024, a romance drama starring Zendaya (“Dune: Part Two” and “Spider-man: No Way Home“) as tennis pro turned coach Tashi Duncan, Mike Faist (“West Side Story” and “Panic“) as husband Art Donaldson, and Josh O’Connor (“God’s Own Country” and “Emma“) as challenger Patrick Zweig. The original fiction story is written by Justin Kuritzkes (“Queer and Ticklish“).

Despite what may have been rumored, the 2024 Challengers tennis plot is fictional – aka NOT based on a true story. This heated love triangle between a woman and two men has been told over and over, but this time we have a tennis match twist. Tashi Duncan (played by Zendaya) is a former tennis prodigy turned coach for her husband Art – who is currently on a comeback/losing streak. Tashi’s plan of redemption is for her husband to face off against the “Challenger” who happens to be Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.

With stakes and tensions high, pasts and presents of this trio collide in a series of flashbacks and present day scenes. The story keeps moving – surprisingly keeping the audience engaged through tense and compelling acting on and off the court. The subtle yet aggressive (can we be both) line between tennis, passion, and love blur as Tashi must face her own question – what will it take to win?

While I personally am not a tennis lover, I found the court scenes the most creative and informative – allowing novices to stay in-the-know with the theme and understanding of how tennis and love are intensely intertwined. And the tennis action felt real – I can only imagine how much work went into becoming relatable tennis players behind-the-scenes. But that’s when things get really heated for kids who love watching Zendaya on the screen – as we dive into the R age rating.

Challengers R Rating Explained

Is Challengers safe for kids? A Zendaya film that’s rated R? Should parents be concerned? It’s no secret that I am highly skeptical of all MPAA ratings (um hello, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker not disclosing any language??). And as we know, not all movie and TV age ratings are the same. As a parent, it’s been rather heartbreaking to witness how ratings have shifted over the years with a G-rating no longer an option to help guide parents.

PG ratings now oscillating between Turning Red intense to Christopher Robin calm, and even PG-13/TV-14 age ratings teetering on the edge of R or MA ratings (Moon Knight and Werewolf by Night, I see you!), there’s a wide range between the age of 0-14 years old for parents to consider. Having fully disclosed parent guidelines can help determine if a movie or show is kid friendly – and safe for the whole family to watch together.

Why is Challengers rated R? In this Challengers Review | Safe for Kids?, this 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Challengers movie is rated R for “language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity.” With film and TV ratings also unpredictable these days, having fully disclosed parent guidelines can help determine if a movie or television show like Challengers is kid friendly. Is Challengers too graphic for kids? Is Challengers for kids? Let’s breakdown that R age rating in this Challengers parents guide.

Violence/Suspense. Challengers is a sports romance drama. Expect lots of intense tennis action shots and yelling on the courts. There is some violence, including a few slaps and few verbal violent threats (some for jokes). Quotes include “I would have stabbed someone” and “better shot with a handgun in your mouth.”

There are also some related tennis injuries that may be tough to watch including an open blister wound and one scene of broken bones (with visuals and sounds).

Adult Themes. There is a moderate amount of alcohol consumption in Challengers – including liquor, beer, and wine consumption. Bar and party scenes occur – but no one acts drunks. Characters smoke cigarettes in multiple scenes. No other drug usage in the film.

No toilet humor – but there are some adult themed discussions in this film including grief, death, and loss, being a “racist b—-,” and verbal violent threats (as mentioned above).

Does Challengers have sexual innuendo? What does Challengers graphic nudity entail? Unlike Dune: Part Two’s sex scene, Zendaya turns up the heat in this 2024 tennis film. But that’s not where the graphic nudity lies. The graphic nudity occurs in the men’s locker room with multiple men in various stages of dressing and undressing. There is full male frontal nudity (and least 2 total – including one man coming out of a bathroom stall in only a shirt) and full backside nudity of men in the showers. And yes, plenty of shirtless players as well.

2024 Challengers sex scenes include one very much like Dune 2, where sex is inferred with implied nakedness post-cuddling (with characters seen from the shoulders up) and one scene where it stops before it gets too far – but there is a semi-clothed bottom and a see-through bra during this scene. There are multiple scenes of hugging, kissing and making out (including woman to man and man to man), lying astride another character, and groping of body parts as well (including one scene occurring under one’s shorts while still on). Overall, the sexual content isn’t as graphic as I thought it would be – but definitely present (which you would think the graphic nudity and sex scenes would go hand-in-hand). There is also a scene of a character slapping a man’s frontal area (erection implied) with his shorts on. A scene of girls dancing also occurs in Challengers, but that seems beyond tame to mention after the descriptive sexual content above.

Sexual innuendo verbal references are also numerous including a full scene explaining “jerking off,” including description of a character showing another character how, asking “who finished first,” reference to using a sock, and how someone looked like “a cat covered in milk.” There are also mentions of “prostituting” and inferred marital “cheating/affair” that may appear revenge-like.

Language. Does Challengers have language? Holy F-bomb, Batman! And the highest number of F-bombs dropped in a single 2024 film so far goes to…Foul language phrases and swear words in the new 2024 Challengers movie include: 63 “f–k” (this is not a joke, you read the number correctly) 1 “mother f—-r” 1 “MILF,” 2 “d–k,” 4 “b—h,” 7 “s–t,” 1 middle finger gesture, and 1 “sucked.”

Milder bad language phrases and insults in Challengers include: “pussy,” “jerk off,” “shut up,” “stupid,” “idiot,” “idiot,” “Jesus Christ,” “Jesus,” “g-d,” “oh g-d,” and “oh my g-d.”

Challengers Age Rating for Kids

The Overall

The thing with Luca Guadagnino films is that you get his emotionally entangled, dark romance with a twist films – or you don’t. And if you came into Challengers movie thinking that this was going to be “just a tennis film,” then you missed the point. Visually captivating and passionately charged – Challengers is a strategically planned game of cat and mouse. And while Challengers movie is NOT for kids, parents and adults will be talking about this Luca Guadagnino film for years to come.

You can cut the sexual tension with a racket. That’s the match point. Zendaya’s character is unmatched. Her performance is serving aces comfortably – peaking in her villain era.

Follow Challengers Movie on social media:

• Website: https://www.mgm.com/movies/challengers-2023
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/challengersmovie
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/challengersmov
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/challengersmovie/
• #ChallengersMovie

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Challengers, the all-new 2024 Challengers movie from Metro- Goldwyn Mayer is being served in theaters starting Friday April 26, 2024. Will your family be watching?

I was invited to screen the all-new Challengers 2024 film in exchange for this Challengers Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide. All photos courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Be sure to follow Raising Whasians for more movie reviews, television updates, celebrity interviews, entertainment, and behind-the-scenes info!