‘Bloody Tennis’ Review – A Bloody Mess [Fantastic Fest 2026]

Nikias Chryssos’ Bloody Tennis takes one of the most psychologically intense sports and turns it into a hybrid of Challengers and Him. The film follows Sophie, an American tennis player played by Sandra Guldberg Kampp, who is accepted into an exclusive academy in Spain where six young women compete for the chance to reach Wimbledon. The academy is run by Mary, a former tennis player played by Elina Löwensohn, while the demanding Stavkos, played by Zlatko Burić, pushes the athletes through increasingly brutal training. In typical horror fashion, on the surface it’s a simple prestigious opportunity, but it gradually becomes something much darker as the girls are subjected to strange diets, physical and psychological abuse, disappearances, and even disturbing rituals. The idea of turning the brutality of professional sports into literal horror is a good one and is unexplored territory, but unfortunately, Bloody Tennis never executes it particularly well.

The academy is pervaded by an atmosphere of mystery since both Mary and Stavkos deal in secrets, while the ranking system serves as a reminder that the girls are actually competing against each other. The film also manages to depict some horrific imagery after the girls begin feeding on unsavory substances. The levels of violence and abuse escalate to such a degree that the film takes on a truly grotesque nature. The atmosphere of mystery, however, is misplaced because the girls are not as mysterious as they should be; instead, the academy serves as the keeper of secrets. The film fails to build tension and suspense around the events at the academy.

The central idea is arguably its best feature, as it works best on paper. Elite sports can already be physically and psychologically exhausting, especially for young people whose identity is linked to winning. Turning it into body horror is an interesting way to discuss parental expectations, exploitation, trauma, and the cost of professional success. Chryssos touches on a number of the former, most notably in Mary constantly ranking the girls and making them want to feel like another’s failure is their opportunity. There are a couple of the latter ideas that she introduces that are not developed enough to make it resonate beyond just that one aspect, however.

Sophie is a weak center for the story. Kampp gives her an appropriately guarded presence, but the screenplay does not give Sophie enough personality or agency to make her journey particularly compelling. She arrives at the academy wanting to further her career, discovers that something is wrong, and gradually becomes caught in the institution’s increasingly disturbing behavior. That should give her a strong progression from ambitious athlete to someone who questions the system she entered. Instead, Sophie spends too much of the film reacting to what happens around her, in that she finds it difficult to get involved in whether she succeeds or escapes.

Her relationships with the other girls do not help much. Initially, the academy sets up a stereotypical mean-girl dynamic, with the athletic players being pitted against each other due to the constant competition. Then some of them suddenly become friendly while these relationships shift again. There is not enough development between these changes so that the friendships and rivalries feel inconsistent rather than complicated. Heidi (Helena Zengel) is one of the more interesting characters because she openly resents the pressure placed on her by her family and sees the academy as a form of torment. Her connection with Sophie provides an opportunity to explore what these young women are actually sacrificing, but this relationship is never given enough attention.

The performances also make it difficult for the movie’s serious ideas to land. With all due respect to the actors, I found the ensemble generally very weak, and the exaggerated performances often work against the horror. Löwensohn is the most distracting example as Mary. She plays the character in such a cartoonishly sinister way that it becomes difficult to understand why anyone around her does not recognize what she is doing. Mary is written as obviously evil, yet the other characters repeatedly behave as though they cannot see what is happening right in front of them. This makes the manipulation less believable and takes away some of the tension from the situation.

There are some genuinely effective horror concepts buried in the movie. The blood drinking and strange dietary practices are memorable, and the physical abuse that is inflicted on the players makes the academy feel increasingly hostile. The film understands that the body is at the center of an athlete’s identity, so using body horror to show that this body is being controlled and abused is an appropriate choice. Unfortunately, the screenplay does not build enough around these images. They often feel like individual moments of grotesqueness, rather than a part of a larger progression.

That is also why the screenplay becomes so frustrating. There is clearly an idea behind Bloody Tennis, but the movie does not seem to know how to turn this into a compelling story. The academy’s dark secret should provide momentum, while the relationships with the other players should give the horror an emotional foundation. Instead, the mystery, character drama, and social commentary sit next to each other without totally connecting. By the time the film reaches its final confrontation, the ideas that it has been introducing do not feel developed enough to make the conclusion particularly satisfying.

The film’s biggest weakness is that the horror is not consistently frightening. There are disturbing images, and some of the violence is brutal, but the attacks are often telegraphed so heavily that there is little suspense when they happen. Good creature or body-horror sequences can make you dread what is about to happen, even when you know it is coming. Here, the setup rarely generates this feeling. The movie wants the academy to feel like an inescapable nightmare, but too many scenes simply confirm what we already know, rather than making the situation more frightening.

That leaves Bloody Tennis in an unfortunate position. The concept is genuinely interesting, and the imagery occasionally suggests a much more effective horror movie underneath the surface. The idea of professional sports being a literal bloodbath could have been a sharp and nasty metaphor, especially with young athletes being pushed beyond their physical and emotional limits. Instead, the filmmaking lacks the control that is needed to bring these elements together. The weak performances and underdeveloped relationships make the human side difficult to invest in, while the horror does not generate enough fear to carry the movie by itself.

There is something admirable about Chryssos choosing such an unusual setting for a horror film. Tennis academies are not exactly a common source of horror, and the controlled environment of an elite training facility gives the movie plenty of opportunities to create tension. The ranking system, the pressure to outperform the other girls, and the threat of being discarded all fit naturally into the genre. I just wish that the movie had trusted these ideas enough to develop them, rather than piling on increasingly strange imagery.

Bloody Tennis has a premise that grips your attention immediately, and there are moments where its disturbing imagery shows what the movie could have been. Unfortunately, the screenplay is too weak in support of its ideas, the characters are not developed enough, and the performances often make the academy feel more cartoonish than sinister. The film wants to turn the brutal pursuit of athletic success into horror, but it never finds the balance between metaphor, character drama, and genuine fear. There is a good horror movie somewhere in the concept of Bloody Tennis. This just isn’t the version that fully comes to life.

Bloody Tennis had its North American Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026. The film is currently available to stream on Shudder. 

Director: Nikias Chryssos

Writer: Nikias Chryssos

Rated: R

Runtime: 94m

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