Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ ‘Challengers’ soundtrack – A masterclass in the high-octane

Written and Edited by Erin Clark
Spoilers for the film ahead!

If you see me furiously typing on my beat-down laptop on Level 13 of Edward Boyle, you can
rest assured that I’m not crunching through my work because I have a master’s degree to
get, nononono… I have simply been sipping on the audio equivalent of approximately 6 red
bulls – the Challengers (2024) soundtrack.

Two sensational hours of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist looking impossibly
attractive while throwing themselves around a tennis court may have presented quite the
challenge (get it?) for a potential film-scorer to match the energy of in post-production – a
hurdle that many a hypothetical producer may have faltered at, but this is all in a day’s work
for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It is thanks to the famed duo that Luca Guadagnino’s
electric and sensual tennis epic Challengers is equal parts visually and audibly pleasing.
Although the duo are formidable genre-melting experts in their own rights outside the world
of film-scoring, through their work under the ‘Nine Inch Nails’ moniker, the Challengers
soundtrack highlights that the best examples of the duo’s work exist in the realm of the film
score. Scoring anything from high-octane Fincher epics such as The Social Network, (2010)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Gone Girl (2014) to Bird Box (2018) and all the
way to animated Pixar efforts such as Soul; (2020) the duo have proved time and time again,
that they are far from a goth-metal-alternative-industrial-one-trick-pony. In fact, it is the
essence of their pre-existing ability to flippantly transcend ‘genre’ through their mainstream
musical efforts that gives them the upper hand when extending into the diversity of film-
scoring.

The opening self-titled track provides an audible introduction to the common ground on
which our three main characters meet, in a constant thumping beat that mimics each of the
three’s passions within the narrative – passion that Zendaya’s ‘Tashi’ possesses for a sport which she bases so much of her worth within; Faist’s ‘Art’ holds for gratification and
recognition at the hands of his wife Tashi; and O’Connor’s ‘Patrick’ maintains for his own
pride and self-sufficiency. Intermittent in nature, the soundtrack’s energy is employed as a
filmic undercurrent which effortlessly punctuates several integral scenes, action and dialogue
to match the energy of a match in stalemate, a lover lost in a tennis-fuelled identity milieu, or
tender moments shared between a young family. The familiar chugging thump becomes so
recognisably associated with narrative-altering happenings that when the soundtrack begins
prior to the reveal of a key event, the audience knows that shit is about to go down.

A personal favourite of mine is the relentless ‘Brutalizer,’ showcases some dazzling bass
and synth syncopation towards the end of its run – any listener can practically smell the post-
tennis-training, sun-bleached summer evenings that the characters are so well acquainted
with. A moment of respite from the high-octane thud comes in the form of the track ‘Lullaby,’
which soundtracks Tashi’s sincere moment of watching over her and Art’s resting daughter
and is an isolated synth interpretation of a traditional Welsh folk song entitled ‘A New Year
Carol’ to very appropriately mirror the dulcet tones that a parent would send their child to
sleep with. The track is appropriately mirrored later in the film – we are gifted a very literal
cover of the same folk song, covered by a talented children’s choir. The lamenting reprise of
the track comes at a pivotal point within the narrative wherein Tashi cheats on husband Art,
with his long-term friend and rival Patrick, prior to their climatic all-to-play-for match. The
soundscape that the chorus provides through soundtracking both the juxtaposing scenes of
a sleeping child with a very emotionally driven depiction of adultery links the two through
conflicting emotions that propel Tashi through the narrative – loss of a career, love for her
child, and the inevitable acceptance of a life that Tashi is ultimately not satisfied with.

As the credits roll, ‘Compress/Repress’ hammers in an epic homerun with a definitive
flourish – as the only track which showcases the vocal talent of Reznor, the lyrical content
which may seem to be a collection of unrelated and disjointed short sentences actually
points to the electric, yet ultimately doomed trifecta of Art, Patrick and Tashi, and the fact that
their convoluted and intertwined narrative perhaps exists in a purely physical and emotional
sphere which transcends comprehensive description. The lyric; “I am you, you are me,”
is particularly poignant in uniting these characters who we may view as inherently different,
ultimately suggesting that the trio are more alike than we perceive them to be. Challengers is
the tale of a truly doomed and destructive dynamic, a relentless and unflinching electric epic
which Reznor and Ross manage to match the pace, energy and passion of deftly.