Challengers is out and, unsurprisingly, the Saltburn comparisons have already began.
Both movies aren't unafraid of focusing on certain topics and fans have been quick to draw similarities.
Check out the trailer for Challengers which had everyone raving about a teased ‘threesome’ scene:
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In the new tennis-themed movie, Zendaya takes on the role of Tashi Duncan; a young prodigy who finds herself in the middle of a very intense love triangle with two fellow players (played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor).
While the trailer sets up the movie to be about the two men fighting for Tashi - the film itself is far more preoccupied with their obsession with each other.
One scene in particular may not be as explicit as the ones in Saltburn, but Challengers fans think it’s a lot hotter than the raunchiest moments in the Barry Keoghan film.
A fan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say: "Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor taking bites from a churro being 10x hotter than Barry Keoghan’s [bathtub scene] is wild to me."
The infamous bathtub scene features Keoghan’s character, Oliver, slurping up Felix’s (Jacob Elordi) semen after he masturbates in a bathtub.
While the Challengers scene sees Faist and O'Connor's characters sitting at a table, just inches apart, sharing a churro. No really, that’s it.
Even though it may not be as shocking as anything in Saltburn, the chemistry between the pair is palpable, with fans agreeing that it’s all they can think about.
Another replied: “Honestly when he pulled the chair towards him before he sat down I nearly collapsed.”
Film writer Haaniyah Angus posted: “Okay now can we talk about the churro scene?????”
In his breakdown of the scene for The New York Times, director Luca Guadagnino said that the scene was ultimately about 'being jealous of one another but wanting one another'.
In an interview with Capital FM, O’Connor and Faist spoke about the scene, stating that it was The Crown actor's first ever churro.
More importantly for fans, however, was that they revealed the churro aspect of it was unscripted and only took two takes.
One fan wrote on X: “The churro scene in challengers was unscripted I beg your pardon?!”
Another said: “Josh saying this was his very first time eating a churro and Patrick taking Art's was unscripted Josh was just very hungry.”
The comparisons with Saltburn were always going to happen, with the focus on sex, homoeroticism, and both being made by Amazon.
I don’t think though anyone would’ve predicted that this was the scene that would be compared to it.
Regardless, I think we can all agree that we’re going to be thinking about the churro scene all week.
Challengers is in cinemas now.
Topics: Film and TV, Zendaya
Michael Slavin