Heartwarming / Challengers (2024)

• Given everything that preceded it, the ending of the movie is shockingly heartwarming. Whether he won or lost, Art seems to have found his confidence again, and he and Patrick share a heartfelt embrace over the net toward the end of their challenger match while Tashi cheers enthusiastically from the sidelines. In 2019, all three of them seem to be searching for the passion they once had for the sport, as well as the connection they one had with each other, and in that moment they all seem to have found it.
• In 2019, Tashi holds out her hand for Art's gum, and he spits it into her palm. In a flashback to Art and Patrick as teenagers, they do the same thing, highlighting the closeness of the relationship they once shared.
• Tashi does her best to comfort Art after he tells her that he wants to retire at the end of the season, letting him curl his head up on her lap while she strokes his hair, and she agrees to his request to hold him until he falls asleep.
• When Tashi returns from her rendezvous with Patrick the night before the final, she finds that Art is not in their bed, and is instead sleeping next to their daughter, with Lily's hand on his shoulder as father and daughter sleep soundly.
• In addition to several expensive gold bracelets, Tashi wears a beaded bracelet with her daughter Lily's name on it, which Lily presumably made for her.
• Tashi and Art grow closer together during college after Tashi's knee injury derails her career and leaves her struggling. At one point when she's emotionally broken up during a frustrating practice session Art goes to her and just wordlessly holds her. It's a tender moment for both of them, and it establishes the best of what their relationship can be after we've already seen its lowest point in the present day.

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