Fair Play is labelled an erotic thriller, which isn’t fairly accurate. Sure, there are erotic elements, but for the most part this plays out as an intriguing drama, as a battle between two lovers unfolds.
When we are first introduced to Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), it’s at the peak of their coupledom. They’re at Luke’s brother’s wedding, and Luke spends every single moment telling Emily how beautiful and wonderful she is. They’re so hot for each other that they stop for a quickie in the toilet, which becomes a bit of a ha-ha moment when Luke gets period blood on his mouth from going down on her. The fact that Luke reacts with humour and not revulsion paints the picture of an easy-going man, the type of man who isn’t bothered by minor things like this. Considering the education and cultural landscape the modern man has grown up in, there’s an expectation here that Luke is one of these men, who can understand balance and equality in a relationship with a woman without seeking to dominate within it. How wrong we are.
We follow the pair to work, and realise they work in the same finance company, a volatile space where one wrong move means you’re out. Emily then gets news from boss Campbell (played with a cold ferocity by the fantastic Eddie Marsan) that she’s been promoted to PM, and she’s shocked because the rumours indicated that Luke would get the promotion. When she arrives home after the meeting, instead of being happy for Emily, all Luke can imagine is that she slept her way to the top. There’s an ugliness in his demeanour and reaction, which not only surprises Emily but the viewer as well. What happened to that man we saw in the opening? He’s certainly not here anymore.
Ehrenreich is perhaps one of the few actors who can handle the duality of the role so well. He’s able to wear the face of an amiable nice guy, and quickly switch to Luke’s toxic persona whenever the occasion calls for it. Luke nastily comments on her appearance and dressing, yet seems to come from an earnest place of wanting her to be able to assert herself in the workplace.
It becomes apparent that Emily is our protagonist, and Dynevor navigates the role with aplomb. The horror of her fiance’s reaction that she’s forced to internalise, her disgust at the misogynistic comments of coworkers that she has to pretend doesn’t bother her, and her anger that the one person she thought would be on her side through it all is now the enemy. The cinematography of the film provides the perfect visual palette for these dynamic performances. We’re in a city that never sleeps, where the hustle is ingrained and a dog eat dog mentality dominates. It’s cold and brutal, and it will consume you if you don’t rise to the occasion.
Emily vacillates between doing whatever it takes to excel in her current position, and worrying about the state of her spiraling relationship. It’s because she’s a woman that she goes through these situations. The world of finance has always been a space dominated by men, and while she has the respect of Campbell, he can also turn on her on a moment’s notice, even calling her a “stupid fucking bitch” when she makes a mistake. He feels entitled to use such labels, and while he seems to think it comes from a fair place since he might denigrate a male employee in the same fashion, the use of such a derogatory phrase reminds us of how biased language is, and how much disrespect towards women has been encoded into our vernacular and culture.
Fair Play is not about a battle between the sexes, it’s about how things are far from fair for women, at the workplace and within romantic relationships. Luke has the power to set fire to both parts of her world, and it is only his violence against her that frees her from his torment. This is the world we live in, where some sense of recompense can only emerge when women reciprocate the violence heaped upon us, because kindness and empathy will get us nowhere.
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