Fair Play centers around newly engaged financial analysts Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehrenreich), who must keep their relationship a secret from their mutual employer, cutthroat hedge fund One Crest Capital.
When Emily gets an unexpected promotion over Luke, he begins to question whether she deserves to move ahead before him. As Emily quickly rises through the ranks of the fund’s decisive leadership, Luke, once an attentive and understanding partner, begins to display signs of envy and resentment.
Power games abound between the young couple, making it harder to maintain their professional façade in the office and pushing their relationship to the edge.
What follows is a complex look at deeply rooted beliefs about gender dynamics in the workplace, but also in the most intimate relationships.
Fair Play premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023, and was released in select theaters on September 29, 2023, before its streaming release on October 6, 2023.
Fair Play is Chloe Domont’s directorial debut.
The director highlights the need to stop normalizing gendered power dynamics and how some men feel threatened by their partner’s accomplishments.
Emily Meyers works at Fair Play, a hedge fund firm that is mainly male-dominated and competitive, generating a great deal of stress on a daily basis. Despite the challenges, Emily stands out among her colleagues, including her fiancé Luke, as the only female analyst. When she is promoted to PM (portfolio manager), however, her colleagues become fragile, insecure, and jealous. Instead of recognizing her intelligence and drive, they begin to gossip that she rose to the top by sleeping her way there.
At the start, Luke appears to be a decent person and stands out from his coworkers. When he’s alone with Emily, he expresses his love for her. He’s attracted to Emily’s drive and authority, but when she gets promoted over him, he struggles to cope with the situation.
Emily received a call from Crest Capital’s founder at a bar at 2:00 a.m., informing her of the promotion. Luke finds this suspicious and repeatedly questions her about whether their boss made any advances toward her or pressured her. Emily assures him nothing happened, but he still doesn’t believe her. After being together for two years, Luke doesn’t trust her words, which should have been a major warning sign for Emily.
Emily and the viewers discover later in the movie that Luke was never a contender for the PM promotion. His job at Crest was a favor owed to one of the owner’s friends, Campbell. Although Campbell acknowledges Luke’s intelligence and good work ethic, Emily is deemed superior. At Crest, they anticipate that Luke will eventually leave once he realizes he will not receive any promotions.
Although Luke works for Emily at Crest, in their personal life, Emily tries to be mindful of her fiancé’s insecurities. However, Luke often expresses bitterness toward her by criticizing her and belittling her, such as commenting on her clothing before an important meeting or telling her she cannot assert herself.
The couple’s personal life becomes unbearable and suffocating as the days pass.
The set design plays a vital role in intensifying the emotional state of the characters. From the start of the second act, the director and set designer gradually narrow the apartment walls by 10 percent each time as the cracks in their relationship begin to appear. This creates a sense that the world is closing in on them as the hallways get narrower. Additionally, the film’s music and use of sound subtly reflect the tension between the couple.
Phoebe Dynevor and Eddie Marsan deliver outstanding performances in this film, portraying characters with authentic chemistry and passion. Eddie Marsan and Rich Sommer join Dynevor and Ehrenreich as two of their co-workers at the One Crest Capital hedge fund.
Even though, once Emily’s promotion arrives, you may have a clear idea of the direction the movie is going to take, the thriller is full of shocking moments, especially toward the finale. Even though it is dark, it is highly engaging.
Regarding character development, it doesn’t appear that Luke has gained any new insights. Even after the final events, he still believes that Emily was dishonest and advanced her career through inappropriate means. Conversely, Emily clearly understands how to conduct herself and maintain a position of authority. She recognizes that her success results from her hard work and refuses to let anyone undermine her or make her feel inferior.
Fair Play is a movie that lasts just under two hours, but there are moments when its length becomes noticeable.
The film is about love, power, and ambition and shows how power imbalances can damage the relationship between two employees at a financial firm. It also highlights the challenges that women face in a male-dominated industry, where their achievements are often dismissed as a result of sexual favors.
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Fair Play is an erotic thriller movie written and directed by Chloe Domont, in her feature directorial debut.
Fair Play premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023, and was released in select theaters on September 29, 2023, before its streaming release on October 6, 2023, by Netflix.
Runtime 113 minutes
MAIN CAST
- Phoebe Dynevor as Emily
- Alden Ehrenreich as Luke
- Eddie Marsan as Campbell
- Rich Sommer as Paul
- Sebastian de Souza as Rory
- Geraldine Somerville as Emily’s mother
