“People are going to have an opinion, and a very visceral one,” Mike Faist says.
Warning: This article contains spoilers forChallengers.
If the final scene ofChallengersdidn’t leave you yelling, “Come on!
Zendaya in “Challengers”.MGM /Courtesy Everett
“then what movie were you watching?!
Or who Tashi loves most.
Or who she ends up with.
Josh O’Connor in ‘Challengers’.MGM
“That’s the thing: everyone’s right and everyone’s wrong,” Faist tellsEntertainment Weekly.
At the time, she was a superstar prodigy widely regarded as the future of the sport.
Patrick defeats his buddy, and he and Tashi end up dating through college.
Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor in ‘Challengers’.MGM
While she’s still angry with Patrick over their old fight, Tashi still has feelings for him.
This finally goads Art into playing with the reckless abandon Tashi always wanted from him.
The duo exchange haymaker volleys back and forth until Art leaps clean over the net and spikes the ball.
The last we see of the match, the two men are embracing and smiling.
Tashi unleashes a primal scream from the stands, shouting, “Come on!”
a callback to an identical scream earlier in the film when she’s dominating her opponent pre-injury.
We’ll never know who wins, but that’s not the point.
“At the end of the film, they have found each other,” O’Connor says.
And they’re all trying to find their way in different ways.
For Tashi, it’s finding that satisfaction in tennis that she lost by having her career stunted.
“The slow-mo!”
The director confirms that the ending brings everything full circle to the trio’s pivotal hotel room make-out.
So, throughout the entire arc, that’s what they’re trying to do.
It’s all about the match itself.
Game, set, match.
Additional reporting from Gerrad Hall
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