Alex Moss EditorThey say that, “three is a crowd” but in cinema that is not always the case. Over decades of cinema the concept of a menage-a-trois has been used in a plethora of interesting ways to explore human connection, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
With the release of Challengers on Blu-ray and DVD – a film that centres around three particularly horny tennis players – what better opportunity to look at some of the hottest threesomes in cinematic history. Just don’t watch these with your parents around.
Y Tu Mamá Tambien
On paper Y Tu Mamá Tambien – translated as that classic teenage insult of “And Your Mother Too” – must sound like the concept for PornHub entry; two teenage boys find themselves on a roadtrip with a young woman who is on a voyage of discovery and the three soon find themselves succumbing to their natural urges. Y Tu Mamá Tambien was something of a breakout film for writer director Alfonso Cuaron, who off the back of it would direct arguably the best Harry Potter film in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Achingly beautiful and deeply seductive Y Tu Mamá Tambien is a joyous sexual awakening of a film.
Wild Things
The stuff of school playground rumour almost as powerful as that scene in Basic Instinct, Wild Things does exactly as the title suggests. Director John McNaughton and writer Stephen Peters ink-black comedy is, on paper at least, your standard erotic thriller. But it thrives in always slightly poking fun at itself and having a rogue’s gallery of characters who you wouldn’t trust if your life depended on it. Three of whom, the pneumatic Denise Richards, the teenage crush of the time Neve Campbell and the square-jawed handsome Matt Dillion all indulge in one of cinema’s most memorable threesomes which includes a fair amount of nudity and a lot of champagne.
Challengers
Luca Guadagnino’s latest deep dive into emotional complexities is a staggering piece of filmmaking. The trio in question are pro tennis players Patrick (Josh O’Connor), Art (Mike Faist) and their muse and inspiration Tashi (Zendaya). Using professional sports as an effective metaphor for the competitive nature of love, Guadagnino’s visuals combined with Justin Kuritzkes’ script is never anything less than blistering. Oh, and it’s so erotically charged it could light up a city for a month or two. From the early threesome scene to the visual threesome of the final tennis match, Challengers is one of the most powerful relationship dramas you’ll ever see.
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
Throughout cinema there have always been groups of threes who are seemingly all in a single relationship and Butch, Sundance and Etta are arguably the most adorable. Their affections for each other seems to transcend sexual desires. It’s The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) and Etta Place (Katharine Ross) who are technically the ‘couple’ but good luck not feeling that Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and Sundance are in a full on bromance while Butch makes his feelings for Etta abundantly clear. Unlike most on this list the romance between these three never becomes toxic and always feels perfectly balanced.
Jules et Jim
François Truffaut’s 1962 film is arguably the biggest influence on almost all the films on this list, the next one in particular references it frequently. Set before and after World War I it sees the titular friends Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) falling in love with Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). As their lives continually interlink, Truffaut explores the tension their love brings before it culminates in heartbreak. This is sexuality through a cerebral lens, one that Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers owes a debt of gratitude for the way it explores interlocking love.
The Dreamers
The key takeout from The Dreamers was the raw screen sexual presence of Eva Green. In a role that undoubtedly marked her out as the one woman who could make James Bond fall in love with her in Casino Royale, Green oozes a seductive and alluring energy. The film follows twins Isabelle (Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel) who befriend American student Matthew (Michael Pitt). As Matthew and Isabelle embark on a relationship it soon becomes clear the siblings are closer than perhaps Matthew once realised. The Dreamers is at its best when dealing with the loss of innocence and sexual awakenings. But more than anything it is the film’s affection and love affair with cinema that resonates loudest, director Bernardo Bertolucci using clips from the likes of Jules et Jim to highlight the power of cinema at the time and the way in which it can fuel desire.
Knock Knock
This one is quite the triple-threat as Keanu Reeves finds himself home alone when stranded women Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo come a knocking on his door. What ensues is a game of cat and mouse with the film never really letting you know who the cats or the mice are. Suffice to say there’s plenty of sexual threat in the air with the film marking Ana de Armas as a star of the future at the time. The premise is a great one and the first act injects a tension fuelled seduction but the climax (sorry) never quite hits the highs of what was promised in the build-up. Still, these three sure know how to have a dirty weekend together.
CHALLENGERS is available on Digital, DVD, and hmv exclusive Blu-ray now
