Bridgerton fame actress Phoebe Dynevor¡¯s recently released film Fair Play is making a buzz for all the right reasons. Directed and written by Chloe Domont, this film stars Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich in the lead roles. The story revolves around this couple¡¯s relationship that undergoes heart-thumping ups and downs when a prestigious promotion is put on the table.
¡°An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple's relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement.¡±
It won¡¯t be wrong to say that Fair Play is one of Netflix's best releases of 2023. This romantic thriller has scored an impressive 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the best-reviewed English-language thrillers on the streaming platform this year.
This film is receiving a lot of hoots purely because of the way it has approached ¡®male ego¡¯ as a subject and done so in a very gripping manner. It also shows the real face of the corporate world where women have to face a massive set of difficulties to climb the ladder of success in a male-dominated industry, especially Wall Street.
Luke and Emily work in a finance company called One Crest Fund and are eyeing for a promotion. They keep their relationship a secret owing to work ethics and relationship boundaries at work place. It¡¯s a poignant tale of money, gender competitiveness and fragile male ego.
It¡¯s not all dark and gritty, the film kicks off with Luke and Emily having the time of their lives as they both have stable jobs and a rocking love life. They pretend to be just colleagues in the office while there¡¯s heat under the sheets as the duo is mad for each other. Right in the beginning, there¡¯s a questionable erotic scene where Luke and Emily indulge in a bit of period sex unknowingly and soon the gory sight incites a marriage proposal which is met with a positive response from Emily.?
In an unexpected twist, Emily overhears some colleagues discussing how Luke might be up for a promotion. She is over the moon and breaks the news to Luke. The duo celebrate and wait patiently for this news to be officially announced.
However, Emily ends up being the lucky one and is promoted instead of Luke making her his new boss. Luke takes this news in his stride and congratulates her after recovering from the shock. His support doesn¡¯t seem convincing as his fake smiles indicate how everything will spiral out of control from this point on.?
The signs of his fragile masculinity and jealousy-driven aggression soon start to show up as a result of change in power dynamics.?
His toxicity comes out in the form of questioning how his fiancee really got the promotion, taking a dig at Emily¡¯s choice of clothing and overruling her decisions at the workplace just to show that he wears the pants in their personal life resulting in a massive loss to the company among other things.?
Emily, on the other hand, struggles to show her assertiveness in front of her colleagues but soon finds the confidence to stand up to other people¡¯s BS including her own fiancee.?
She¡¯s neither a damsel in distress nor a feminist, but a woman who is on a mission to dent the patriarchal system with her hard work and sincerity so that she can climb the ladder of success on her own terms.
The pressure that builds up at the workplace is intense as the parallels drawn between the volatile stock market and Luke-Emily¡¯s tumultuous love life gets intense with each passing minute.?
Luke¡¯s snide remarks turn into slut-shaming and he then shows up to work in his full erratic and dishevelled glory, sabotaging Emily¡¯s career during a high-stakes meeting. He accuses her of promising him a promotion in returns of sexual favours leaving all of Emily¡¯s colleagues and superiors dumbfounded.
After a lot of workplace drama and embarrassment, Luke sabotages the surprise engagement party that Emily¡¯s mother throws to celebrate the couple¡¯s engagement. During a confrontation, Luke then slut shames Emily and accuses her of sleeping with the bosses to get on top. This enrages Emily and she breaks a bottle on his head and storms off into the bathroom. Luke follows her and the two once again engage in a verbal spat which turns into angry sex. However, at one point Emily tells him to stop as she feels uncomfortable with his rage. He repeatedly smashes her head on the slab while in the act which lead to severe bruising on her face and other body parts.?
Once Emily clears the air at her workplace, she is surprised to find Luke back in their home ready to move out with his things packed. He is nonchalant about everything that went down between them and just blabbers about his plans of moving in with his brother and starting his own company. This enrages a hurt Emily beyond words and she calls him out for feigning ignorance and not apologising for raping her and ruining her career. His ignorance fuels her fury even more and she finds a knife and attacks him by cutting his arm and hand.?
According to the director, the climax is not about female revenge as many might think. It was more to do with holding a man accountable for his wrongdoings and showing him the mirror to face his self-inflicted inferiority.?
The only way to have held Luke accountable was by doing so in his own language - physical force, the way he did with her. Emily makes him apologize for hurting her professionally, emotionally and physically.?
Using this powerful dialogue, she brings him to his knees.
¡°You sit here, suddenly acting normal after terrorizing me, after cutting me down day after day, and you think that I¡¯m just gonna let you walk out that door and act like nothing happened?¡±
Emily makes Luke acknowledge his own failures and weaknesses and forces him to say ¡°I¡¯m nothing¡± because this film isn¡¯t about women empowerment but male fragility.
At this point, Luke finally comes to terms with everything he¡¯s done while weeping and begging for Emily¡¯s forgiveness. Instead of giving him another chance, she orders him to clean up his bloody mess and leave.?
Fair Play is available to stream on Netflix.
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