Both music and movies are beloved by audiences worldwide, but true magic is made when the two come together.
We’ve all felt the rush of genuine belief that wizards and witches exist in the first few notes of John Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter, or the quiet melancholy and surge of debilitating loneliness that arises in the soft piano melody in “Song on The Beach” composed by Canada’s own Arcade Fire for Spike Jonze’s Her. A good score does much more than immerse you into the world of the film—it allows the movie to live on in your head long after it ends.
With Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis drama Challengers arriving on streaming platforms this past month, I couldn’t deny the rush of adrenaline—and honestly, tiny bit of ecstasy—coursing through my veins when the thrumming synths and pounding drums kick in during the first slow motion sequence. In the scene, tennis players Art and Patrick face each other in a final match across the expansive court, and the camera swoops in over the umpire’s head, the length of the tennis net, and right up onto Zendaya’s stony face.
That first moment is when you know the movie is going to be truly insane. The movie’s a masterpiece with its sharp writing, genius editing that follows the three-act structure, and back and forth of a legitimate tennis match, along with stunningly sweaty visuals. However, I believe the crowning achievement of the film is Challengers’ pulsing, glimmering techno score composed by film score pros and industrial rock legends Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The score became a phenomenon in itself—countless spoof videos mocking the film all featured the song “Challengers” from the soundtrack. s on X and TikTok were begging for local clubs to play the entire soundtrack front to back, and this phenomenon made me wonder what elements make up a score that not only enhances a film, but how the music itself can catapult one back into the film’s atmosphere.
Challengers’ club bangers juxtapose the repressive setting of the tennis court. In a game where unsportsmanlike conduct is punishable by point deductions, the music is loud and blaring, desperate to cut through the tension on and off the court.
The songs harshly drown out the characters’ conversations with each other, most notably in “Brutalizer” and “The Points That Matter,” reminding the audience what’s being said doesn’t matter as much as what each character isn’t expressing out loud in the face of keeping it cool. Reznor even says in GQ magazine that director Luca Guadagnino wanted the score to be filled with “unending homoerotic desire,” so do with that what you will.
French duo Air’s score for Sofia Coppola’s debut film The Virgin Suicides also comes to mind when thinking about movie music. The tracks ping back and forth between the jazzy melodies of “Playground Love” and “Afternoon Sister,” and the haunting synths, low ominous roars, discordant chords, and shrill, high-pitched children’s voices in “The Word Hurricane” and “Dirty Trip.”
The film’s tragedy is spelled out by the score in a film with little to no dialogue between the tortured girls and the boys who can’t save them. The music becomes each party’s desperate attempt to share their desires—and failing—ultimately leading to the girls’ demise.
The way the music matches the tone of a film, fleshing out its world, allows the audience to relive the movie magic in our everyday lives. Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar winning score for last year’s most critically acclaimed film Oppenheimer managed to crack my Spotify Wrapped. Songs such as “Can You Hear The Music” and “Quantum Mechanics” became the ultimate study soundtrack whenever I needed to lock in. The fast-paced strings made me feel as though I had equations—or in my case, words for my essays—floating above my head in gold writing.
There’s a motivation and drive throughout the music, with this simultaneous underlying and imminent doom—elements which bring the film to life, and also represent exactly how exam season makes me feel. Oppenheimer’s score has become a dutiful companion for when I’m locked away during the end of the semester in a cubby at Stauffer, demonstrating how score helps films seep into the everyday lives of their audiences.
Music in film becomes memorable when it helps establish an alternate world, whether through added layers of meaning, or world-building through tone. So, if you see me listening to the Challengers Original Motion Picture Score once again for the hundredth time this year, just know I’m reliving every single racket swing, churro bite, and drop of sweat behind my eyelids.
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