Fair Play – Review
113 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by Chloe Domont
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
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.
Jesus, what a fucking movie.
Take it at face value, and you have a simple little story about a highly competitive workplace.
Now throw a clandestine — and highly sexual — relationship and you’ve got yourself a tale of power.
Chloe Domont crafts an inverted telling of the traditional corporate power structure in which men are promoted ahead of women, as well as the traditional dynamic of relationships.
What we end up with is an examination of the fragility of the male ego. Luke (played by Alden Ehrenreich), once passed over for a promotion that goes to his (secret) fiancé, Emily (played by Phoebe Dynevor), begins a spiral of descent into a morass of self-pity and jealous, all buffeted by his legitimate affection for his partner.
If that sounds contradictory, you’ve right: it is.
But it’s entirely possible that he could be madly in love with her, happy for her promotion, while also being crushed at the realization that he isn’t as welcome or as competent at his job as he believed himself to be.
Is that ego? Sure, but it’s also a result of the society in which he was raised, in which a man’s job is to support, to be the primary, to think less OF HIMSELF if it is perceived that he cannot perform those duties.
Luke’s self-loathing then, expresses itself in over-effort at work while simultaneously draining his otherwise passionate love for his partner, a further lessening of his manhood.
Is this “toxic?” Hell, I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist. Is it toxic to have your self-image destroyed and be unable to deal with that, especially when it runs parallel to a genuine affection?
Domont doesn’t let Emily off the hook, however. Unable to give Luke time to really process the sudden turn of events (slightly enhanced by her perceived part in a miscommunication that HE was going to be promoted, setting expectations completely on their head when it didn’t come to pass), she immediately embraces her new role as his boss, which isn’t easy; not just because of their relationship but because of Luke’s relationship with their boss (Eddie Marsan), which is chilly at best.
With Luke grappling with his uncertainties by throwing himself in to an internet “self-improvement/management” course, Emily begins to act the part of the men who hold the same position as she does, suggesting they go to “Pumps,” a strip club, after work one night while Luke is frantically trying to elevate his job performance with long hours. Her personal frustrations explode while at the club with her co-workers, and she embraces the stereotypical debauchery of her position
By the end of the film, which both begins and ends with blood, BTW, Emily is in full-protect mode of both herself and her career, willing to do whatever it takes to maintain what she’s got.
Sound familiar? Sure, but in men, such behavior is considered “toxic.”
Whatever.
I hate “trigger warnings,” so I won’t tell you what might be triggered for you, but some folks are going to have issues with one scene in particular.
Fair Play has really great performances all around and convincingly presents the cut-throat world of high finance and the stakes for which these people play (in terms of money). It’s inventive inversion of the power players but not the power game is enlightening. Perhaps it’s not really about who’s playing, but rather what game they’re playing.
And I can’t recommend this movie enough.
Fair Play hits Netflix is in theaters now, hits Netflix on October 6, and stars Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, and Eddie Marsan.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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