Luca Guadagnino makes desire convincing because his characters so often embarrass themselves. His best films let actors make attraction awkward and funny; he is less reliable when he keeps adding images to feelings they have already made clear.
Fi1m perspective
In Call Me by Your Name (2017), Elio can discuss art and history but cannot make sense of wanting Oliver. Guadagnino gives that embarrassment time, occasionally more than it needs. James Ivory’s screenplay and Timothée Chalamet’s performance make the uncertainty worth following. We find him most persuasive here, letting an articulate boy struggle with something he cannot explain.
The breakthrough was I Am Love (2009), followed by A Bigger Splash (2015), the first two parts of his Desire trilogy. His subsequent turn towards horror brought Suspiria (2018) and Bones and All (2022). In Challengers (2024), he found a brisker way to film attraction, putting three people’s competing wants on a tennis court.
Justin Kuritzkes’s script gives editor Marco Costa a match and thirteen years of history to cut between, and the shifting dates keep the rivalries sharp. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom shoots the serves in hard daylight, with sweat flying. We were exhilarated when Guadagnino sent the camera travelling with the ball across the net, despite knowing he was showing off. Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor keep the competition funny and personal. The score is too loud, but this is a film whose excesses mostly earn their place.
Queer (2024), also written by Kuritzkes, has Daniel Craig making a fool of himself for a younger man, with painful and funny results. Production designer Stefano Baisi’s painted skies make Mexico City look remembered. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s low, aching score suits Lee’s longing. For a while, Guadagnino lets Craig’s face do the difficult work. Later he reaches for elaborate effects, and Costa’s editing grows slack just when the film needs to move on.
After the Hunt (2025) offers less reason to be patient. Julia Roberts gives a strong performance as a philosophy professor reluctant to take a position, but Guadagnino’s refusal to settle on what he thinks makes the film drag. Careful construction cannot make that indecision interesting for 139 minutes. Start with Call Me by Your Name, allowing for its leisurely pace.
Biography
Luca Guadagnino is an Italian film director and producer. He was born on 10 August 1971 in Palermo, Italy.
His feature-film debut was The Protagonists (1999). He is known for directing I Am Love (2010), A Bigger Splash (2015), Call Me by Your Name (2017), Suspiria (2018), Bones and All (2022), Challengers (2024), Queer (2024) and After the Hunt (2025). He has also produced several of these films.
