When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, once supportive exchanges between lovers Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, the couple must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition. In her feature debut, writer-director Chloe Domont weaves a taut relationship thriller, staring down the destructive gender dynamics that pit partners against each other in a world that is transforming faster than the rules can keep up. Also starring Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer, and Sebastian De Souza, Fair Play unravels the uncomfortable collision of empowerment and ego.
Review
Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich headline this erotic thriller about a cutthroat hedge fund, and the games played to earn that promotion and the office politics that come with it. However, the film’s purpose is to reverse the typical gender roles and put the man, Ehrenreich, into the position of the person getting passed up and how he copes with it. The film has no qualms with the erotic part as the two leads are in a relationship that they want to be kept secret from their office. However, things start out, rocky.
The story plot of the hedge fund billionaires, their proclivities towards debauchery and the length in which many will go to rise within the company is not a new Hollywood story plot. Wolf of Wall Street and many others over the decades have covered the tired topic of the 1%. The director felt like this film could rise above the rest because the gender roles are reversed and try to dive into the topic of toxic masculinity and gender roles. While the topic is one worth exploring more in film, and others have done so well, Fair Play misses the mark and only half commits to that portion of the narrative. Instead, we end up with an angry film of a couple whose relationship goes as far as it takes them up the food chain, but no real substance that drives the overall message home.
The rest of the cast is mostly in the background without much to say outside of the hedgefund boss, played by Eddie Marsan, who simply enters the room and confirms that you either make him a lot of money, or you are trash. The violent sexual interactions don’t add any value to the drama or push the story forward in the way the director was hoping and ultimately we never really care about the characters. Granted, they were not written for you to like either of them, but you don’t even hate them enough to care either.
All in all, Fair Play is a weak attempt to tell a story about gender roles and the toxic behaviors in the workplace that doesn’t engage the viewer enough to care or walk out of the theatre with any lasting thoughts. Fair Play hits Netflix Friday Oct 6th.
Copyright Netflix 2023.
