Netflix 'Fair Play' review: Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich are sharp, shocking in thriller
Chloe Domont's impressive movie on toxic gender roles will make you want to yell at the screen
Netflix movie Fair Play, starring Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich, is an impressive feature debut for writer-director Chloe Domont.
Riveting, innovative and constantly keeping the audience on their toes, Fair Play is a movie that you'll keep thinking about hours, maybe even days, after it ends.
Where to watch 'Fair Play': Netflix
Director: Chloe Domont
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer, Sebastian De Souza
Runtime: 113 minutes
What is the movie 'Fair Play' about?
Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehrenreich) are co-workers at a New York City hedge fund company, where they both work as analysts, but they're keeping a secret. The couple are engaged and living together, and they can't get caught breaking company policy.
While they seem to have this system to hide their relationship figured out, things change when there's an opportunity for a promotion at the firm. They both assumed Luke was in the running for the position, but it turns out Emily gets the job.
While Luke is adamant that he's supportive of Emily's new position, that doesn't last long. As the jealously comes through stronger and stronger each day, as Emily takes on more responsibility and spends nights out with the higher-ups at the firm, things take a more threatening turn.
Why 'Fair Play' is a must-watch movie
Dumont effectively displays the infuriating challenges of society's prescribed gender roles so effectively that several times during the film's screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), we wished we could just start yelling at the screen.
For example, when Luke makes wildly inconsiderate comments about Emily's appearance, or when he communicates to Emily that the only way he can make sense of her getting the promotion over him is because she's having an affair with her boss, you could sense the rage in the room.
We held in our emotions in public, but it's exemplary of how finely crafted this story is for the subject matter.
It's not that these tensions are new explorations in film, but it's more about the way Dumont depicts them that stands out.
The script is sharp and deliberate, with moments that feel like a gut punch, and lines that left us with our mouth agape. But Dumont also takes her time to really flesh out everything that's at play, leading to the demise of Emily and Luke's relationship.
Both Ehrenreich and Dynevor are absolutely brilliant at taking on the load of the internal complexity of each of their characters.
Ehrenreich's execution of Luke's bubbling anger is chilling, while Dynevor is devastatingly captivating as she navigates the impact of Emily's professional success. She's trying to fit in with "the boys," but ultimately always feels like an outsider.
We also can't help but mention that Eddie Marsan, who plays Emily's boss Campbell, continues to be one of the most imposing actors when he takes on a role that has a particular aggression, like in Fair Play.
Dumont is never prescribing a particular viewpoint in this film. There is a lot of grey in each character's actions, with empathy to be had for both Emily and Luke, which makes the movie all that more shocking.
While Fair Play has already been hailed as an "erotic thriller," it's not particularly impressive that there's a sexiness to the film. What is exciting is how Dumont uses the intimacy between Emily and Luke to provide an emotional pull to these characters as a couple, notably including an intimate moment early on in the film that happens when Emily is on her period.
What's really horrifying about Fair Play is that many elements in the film are actually reality, but that's also why this is a movie everybody should watch.
