Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are deeply in love with each other. However, they need to hide the fact that they're getting married soon. They both work for a hedge fund company that prohibits having romantic relationships with coworkers. Since Luke is also in the running for a big promotion and Emily doesn't want to lose her job, they’ve lied to people to keep their engagement a secret.
One night, Emily meets with Campbell (Eddie Marsan), the hedge fund company’s CEO. It turns out that she’s getting the promotion, not Luke. Emily is both elated and shocked by this turn of events. Luke, on the other hand, is confused and dismayed. So Emily made a promise that she would help him rise in position as well. But something about their relationship changed that night, and it will never be the same again.
Fair Play is basically: manbaby vs. girlboss the movie. But there isn't much competition here because all the sympathy and attention are already cashed in to Emily. I kind of understand the reason to focus on her. This is a personal film for director Chloe Domont, and the film’s goal is to empower women and remind them that their worth shouldn't wholly depend on how well they cater to the needs of men.
Chloe Domont then connects this issue about power struggles and gender roles with the toxic hustle culture of the financial industry. The parallelism she creates brilliantly shows how the market's volatility is kind of similar to the ups and downs of couples. As they all say in investing, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and always remember that high-risk investments yield high returns. In the case of Emily and Luke, devoting everything in each other seems like a bad investment after all.
There are a lot of road bumps in the story, but Dynevor and Ehrenreich’s chemistry made it worthwhile. Even though the characters aren't the kind of people you'd really care about, Dyenevor and Ehrenreich make us believe that there's something about them that is worth our attention. I'd also like to take this chance to praise Marsan for such a powerful performance.
Generally, I’m satisfied with the film. The only thing that I think holds it back is that the characters aren't very three-dimensional. The little concern we have for Luke and Emily fades away because so many things about their life choices are not based on deeply personal reason. I guess it stems from the fact that we barely know them. What is their true desire? Why do they hold on to their relationship and work? It's never made clear in the movie why we should care about them.
I think the whole movie’s premise is very promising, and there are some points that will stick with you. But it lacks some shock factor. The ending comes a little too late in the story as well. It would have been interesting to see Luke descend further into madness and for Emily to fully embrace her intelligence, beauty, and girlboss attitude, but I guess it's better to be late than never.
3/5
