By Chiara Piacentini
Staff Writer
Warning: This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.
“Fair Play,” written and directed by Chloe Domont, is now streaming on Netflix. It has received average reviews, so I was expecting a disappointment. Although the erotic thriller started off slow, it had enough twists and turns later on to keep me invested.
The movie focuses on two characters, Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), who are in a serious relationship. After the first few very erotic scenes, it starts to get interesting when we learn their relationship is risky because they work at the same hedge fund; in this cutthroat work environment, their relationship is grounds for termination.
I noticed and appreciated that the movie took on a feminist perspective by making Emily the more competent employee of the two while Luke had an alpha male complex. This was because Emily had earned the coveted promotion to project manager when it was rumored that Luke would take on the role. Luke develops a toxic jealousy that borders on psychopathic throughout the rest of the film.
While it may appear to be all about female empowerment, Domont’s true purpose was to examine male fragility. From my perspective, these two viewpoints were given equal prominence. While Emily continues to prove herself better than Luke with her superior logic, Luke scores some male fragility points with his overinflated ego.
One complaint I have is that the movie was a little one-sided. After Emily got the promotion, Luke became convinced that she slept her way to the top. But it’s easy to dismiss his beliefs and only trust Emily because we get her perspective and Luke’s ego makes him an unreliable character. It would have been more exciting if Domont made Emily’s side of the story shrouded in mystery, so that it would be more difficult to know what actually went down.
It was also a little ridiculous how many chances Emily gave him to grow up. There were so many warning signs. It wasn’t until Luke purposely exposed their relationship to Emily’s boss that she felt he had crossed the line. It also felt somewhat unrealistic that Emily was let off the hook while Luke was fired, but I was rooting for Emily from the start, so it did her justice.
The ending was sort of a cliffhanger. Typically this is where suspenseful music would be used to hype up an ugly shakedown, but Domont used silence to her advantage and mainly relied on the actors’ performance to capture the tension in this scene. It could have been wrapped up without being so abrupt, but it was worth it to see Emily exact her revenge on Luke, even if she did it in a messed up way.
Overall, the film is not bad for a story about a toxic relationship. I underestimated it at the beginning, bracing myself for clichés. But, if you wait and give it a chance, you could be in for a satisfying surprise and learn some life lessons along the way.
