It’s said that all is fair in love and war; in Netflix’s latest film, Fair Play, rage and romance are utilised to capture the battle between the sexes, governed by professional growth, power dynamics and workplace toxicity. Headlined by Phoebe Dynevor as Emily and Alden Ehrenreich as Luke, this film’s beginning and end are both poetic and poisonous. At the beginning, we see them writhing in intimacy, blood and pleasure intertwined. A ring gets slipped down the finger and they get happily engaged.
Two hours later though, nearing the final minutes of the film, there’s blood again and some screaming too. The question is, was everything okay with them from the beginning? The couple work together, their relationship a total secret at work. What if the woman were to get promoted? How would that affect the dynamics?
Director: Chloe Domont
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer
Streaming on: Netflix
Fair Play is admirable in its nuanced writing of characters. Even as you judge these characters, you are in no doubt concerning their motivations. The film does not take sides; instead, it speaks of personal ambitions and what being in the throes of power can do to someone. However, with its end though, the film does away with its neutrality, with the characters doing things that make it easy to classify them as right and wrong.
The film is a masterclass in acting, with Phoebe the shining star and Alden driving the story. The two characters find themselves wading through the grey of their characterisation, and the performances really help ensure that we understand them without trying to judge them. This slow-burn drama snowballs into a great psychological study of power dynamics, fragility of the male ego, and the all-important topic of consent. Director Chloe Domont cleverly introduces us to the already going-strong couple, which gives the filmmaker time and space to establish the growth of envy and the eventual relationship strain. As the dynamics change, the virtue-signaling never stops, and women get forced to shed vulnerability in order to gain control of the situation.
It’s an engaging film for the most part, but there are the occasional tedious stretches as well. The novelty here is how the film’s love story speaks of an inherent competitive streak that seems to exist in many relationships today. When there’s no work-life balance, how can the dynamics of work not affect life?
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