Fair Play is a drama thriller film written and directed by Chloe Domont. The film was released initially this year before making its way to Netflix on October 6, 2023. It is produced by Tim White, Trevor White, Aldan Mandel Baum, Ben LeClair and Leopold Hughes. It has a runtime of about 1 hour and 55 minutes.
The cast of the film includes Phoebe Dynevor as Emily, Alden Ehrenreich as Luke, Eddie Marsan as Campbell, Rich Sommer as Paul, Sebastian de Souza as Rory, Patrick Fischler as Robert Bynes, Brandon Bassir as Dax, Geraldine Somerville and others.
Fair Play Review
The film starts off with Emily and Luke at a friend’s wedding party and by the end of the night, Luke drunkenly proposes to Emily, during a period-stained makeout session. However, the engagement celebration is short-lived as they both work as financial analysts at a hedge fund One Crest Capital, where relationships between co-workers are banned. Thus, even though they live together, they have to keep their relationship a secret from the outside world.
It’s a high-paced and stressful job where you work till late and sleep a little to keep up your performance. When the coveted title of portfolio manager opens up at the office, they both fully expect that it will go to Luke. Instead, their cold-blooded boss Campbell passes the torch to Emily, as deems her better suited and capable of doing a good job.
But the couple’s relationship, which was already tested by One Crest Capital’s relationship ban, is shaken to the core. As Emily quickly rises through the ranks of the fund’s powerful leadership, Luke, once an attentive and understanding partner, begins to display signs of envy and resentment. Swayed by his colleagues in the male-dominated workplace, Luke also starts to suspect that maybe Emily got physically intimate with the boss to get the job. Or they just wanted to check the diversity & equal opportunity box so they picked the one they could handle like a puppet.
The film shows how when the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, the couple has to face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition. From male toxicity, where Luke starts to feel like a nobody in front of Emily and often tries to mess her up – to Emily’s arrogance riding high on power, creates irreparable cracks in their relationship.
How the two character’s complicated emotions and personality is shown through their actions, is what makes the film worth watching. Also visually, if you take a closer look, then it looks like their apartment walls are becoming narrower, closing up on them and could collapse soon. Even the director commented that from the second act, they started to bring in the walls 10 per cent each time until the end. Along with it, the sound design does help in creating this tension that feels like even you are holding onto your breath.
The workplace is a battle of power and their home is a minefield. And they keep trodding around each other until they step on the wrong place and everything goes up in flames with a blast. While the actor’s performance is the high point, the linear plot falls short for them. There’s a lack of emotional connection with either of the characters, they are all quite unlikeable that you don’t know who to even empathise or relate with. There’s no single right person and they both make terrible mistakes deliberately. But the ending is what leaves you unsatisfied.
If only there was a short closing scene hidden between the credits, showing what really happened to the characters, then I believe it would be a phenomenal story about the human psyche and ambitions. There is drama but it doesn’t lead to anything conclusive. Overall, it’s a film that everyone should watch, maybe with your significant other and get to know on which side they stand. It might help you understand what could happen if you were to be in the same position anytime soon or what their core values really are. However, arguments are bound to happen in any case.
Rating: 3/5
Fair Play is available for streaming on Netflix.
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