All movies with complicated time schemes have the same problem to overcome: the movie’s dramatic sequences, like tiles in a mosaic, must be trimmed to fit into a rigid pattern. Certain information must be highlighted in order to emphasize dramatic connections that, in a chronological treatment, would be readily apparent. Filmmakers have to foreground these connections if they don’t want to run the risk of leaving viewers bewildered—which is to say, if they want to make commercial movies. There’s no better example of this currently than Luca Guadagnino’s much discussed new movie, “Challengers.” An intricate time-jumping framework is a large part of what makes the film distinctive, but the compromises made to achieve this are responsible for a pervasive feeling of emptiness.
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