Hat-tip: The tepid film that is first glaringly like an erotic drama, filled with a finance power couple who secretly got engaged. But when it comes to its sense of direction, it becomes a thrill-packed world where egos are shattered and power relations are unmanageable. Chloe Domont’s debut as a writer-director sometimes buckles under the weight of its own imposing and dramatic density but in all the right ways, it remains unsettling yet attractive as it keeps moving without any breaks showing the strength shown by her main actors. So we are talking about Fair Play Movie
In her debut feature, Domont introduces us to Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) at a family wedding through a series of mishaps during oral sex, period blood, and getting engaged inappropriately. It may be set in public restrooms but surprisingly enough, it has an intimate touch. Nevertheless, though the movie has never really captured their sexual relationship in terms of intense desire as they seem pretty much excited about being engaged that they are almost cute like two teenagers having sex for the first time. This is nevertheless without taking into account whatever Lydia thought for this morning’s routine contrast between each other which was one amusing baseline; they both left their undersized New York home separately before dawn just to come back to a merciless hedge fund office where they worked together as analysts shorting while also trading various stocks appearing so professional towards each other each time.
Fair Play seems initially nothing more than a lukewarm erotic drama about a financier couple keeping their engagement secret. However, once it gets going right toward the end of Act I, this spirals out of control into violent thriller territory involving bruised egos and convoluted power relations. Chloe Domont’s initial feature work occasionally crumbles under its substantial weighty nature and dramatic compression but such ugliness is what makes it gripping thus providing a feeling like you are falling in the air but still having a main actor’s performance that is fearlessly portrayed through.
During a family wedding, Domont introduces Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) via an oral sex mishap that has something to do with period blood and a proposal gone awry. It’s surprisingly sweet and intimate, despite its public restroom setting. Despite never quite establishing their sexual dynamic as one would expect wild passion, they can be pretty silly about being engaged; like two innocent young lovers on their first night together. Yet it remains funny enough even if this wasn’t her intention to relate to the fact on the following morning when they resumed work as analysts at the same pitiless hedge fund office after leaving their tiny New York apartment one by one before dawn while maintaining professionalism toward each other in the process of trading and shorting different stocks.
Fair Play seems initially nothing more than a lukewarm erotic drama about a financier couple keeping their engagement secret. However, once it gets going right toward the end of Act I, this spirals out of control into violent thriller territory involving bruised egos and convoluted power relations. Chloe Domont’s initial feature work occasionally crumbles under its substantial weighty nature and dramatic compression but such ugliness is what makes it gripping thus providing a feeling like you are falling in the air but still having a main actor’s performance that is fearlessly portrayed through.
During a family wedding, Domont introduces Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) via an oral sex mishap that has something to do with period blood and a proposal gone awry. It’s surprisingly sweet and intimate, despite its public restroom setting. Despite never quite establishing their sexual dynamic as one would expect wild passion, they can be pretty silly about being engaged; like two innocent young lovers on their first night together. Yet it remains funny enough even if this wasn’t her intention to relate to the fact on the following morning when they resumed work as analysts at the same pitiless hedge fund office after leaving their tiny New York apartment one by one before dawn while maintaining professionalism toward each other in the process of trading and shorting different stocks.
Luke is the next in line, it is rumored when a highly desired position becomes available (and together with this comes a nice corner office). However, during the late-night meeting with their stony-faced boss, Campbell played by Eddie Marsan who looks absolutely terrifying, Emily is called for and instead, she gets offered the position. Luke is quite taken aback, but so is he as they both try to maintain their composure. The relationship starts having problems very early, which are made worse by their inability to communicate effectively with each other’s needs and by Luke’s hurt pride that will not allow him to accept his new role as Emily’s direct subordinate anymore.
There are long parts of the first hour and fifty-five minutes of the film where Domont and cinematographer Menno Mans appear unsure of what their camera should be focused on in these silent moments. As if on purpose, the shots keep shifting only to show nothing significant within the characters’ peripheries. This can be pretty distracting at times – almost amateurish even till suddenly everything moves into another gear leaving no time to breathe. Personal and professional lives collide between this couple who end up developing mutual resentment that manifests itself in ways that surprise them: For all its domestic drama trappings, however, Fair Play also contains some elements of a workplace thriller since it often involves millions of dollars at stake. There are no specifics on how money works in this movie but each story’s decision has to do with contrasting the two works settings as well as juxtaposing personal lives that must remain hidden from public scrutiny.
Dynevor can act very well indeed; she lets her character step onto the Wall Street ladder filled with testosterone using all means possible. However, sometimes progression of the film slows down because its understanding of Emily remains fairly ordinary given that her existence is mostly defined externally such as through her relationships or job or bosses etcetera. On one hand, it could be seen as an attempt to sly comment about the frames women have to work with in a male-dominated corporate world but the way the character is presented theatrically proves otherwise. Meanwhile, her interiority is dealt with cinematically – meaning that cuts to who she looks at and what she looks at determine what her gaze means – but close-ups of Emily herself rarely tell us much about her inner self.
Neither Luke nor Emily seems to have an opinion, interest, or life outside their jobs and each other which could also be taken as a metacommentary on the rat race. It’s really all about how Domont shoots Ehrenreich’s performance, though. The simmering silence he soaks himself in is amazing–it creates a kind of tension around Luke and Emily as if they were enveloped in a mist that cannot be explained within their own dialogue. He is truly a time bomb just waiting to explode dramatically, and it is exciting and infuriating just watching Ehrenreich get closer and closer towards this stage gradually. The film sound design adds another layer of intensity, making even simple atmospheres such as office chatter or one’s partner moving around an apartment rough-edged.
It is how Fair Play turns words into weapons that may be most exciting, and provides both lead actors with the opportunity to consider each exchange and react to them wrongly. The vivid depiction of a crumbling relationship is shockingly disarming, including the blurring of bedroom power dynamics by lack of communication. Though it ends up being too morally didactic for a film so otherwise untidy and complex, Fair Play stands out as one of those rare modern Hollywood thrillers where stakes are entirely personal terms thanks to a first-time filmmaker whose work is very likely going to be worth keeping an eye on because of its masterful sense of escalation.
Verdict
With two stunning central performances – particularly Alden Ehrenreich who transforms a hurt creature into a ferocious beast – Chloe Domont’s Fair Play surpasses its limitations and emerges as the most thrilling directorial debut this year. In capturing why relationships fail from within, few Hollywood genre movies are as truthful; even fewer succeed in transforming these failures into corporate dramas with razor-wire edges.
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