Delayed Reaction: Fair Play

Premise: A relationship gets put to the test after an unexpected promotion shifts the power balance in a young couple working at a hedge fund.

My opinion of this film depends a lot on how I'm coming at it. As a sexy workplace thriller, this movie has the goods. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich are hot as hell. They look great in expensive business attire. Writer/director Chloe Domont delivers in her depiction of the high stakes finance world and the excesses of it. If you are looking for the equivalent of a movie that would star Michael Douglas in the late 80s or 90s, Fair Play is absolutely it. I was super pleased to see both Dynevor and Ehrenreich knock it out of the park. I was worried that Dynevor wouldn't translate outside of the Bridgerton setting and I was worried that a couple underwhelming roles would tank Ehrenreich's career. Both come out looking great in this. Dynevor shows more strength than I've seen before and Ehrenreich wears unlikability better than expected.

It shouldn't be that surprising that Domont handles this material so well. Her mostly journeyman career as a director has included work on shows like Suits and Billions. She's used to working in this affluent world. What I found most impressive about her work here is how she let me hate this world fairly. I'm used to most depictions of the finance world one of two ways. It's either lifestyle porn or it's Sodom. Domont mostly lets the world speak for itself. Watching this, I both wanted no part of this world but also could see how it could attract someone with more of a competitive drive. Probably my favorite part of the movie is a sequence in the middle when the leads are both working furiously to earn back a massive loss at work.

However, if I look at this as a film about gender dynamics in a workplace and relationship, I'm underwhelmed. The plot of this movie is that Dynevor and Ehrenreich are carrying on a secret relationship. Soon after they get engaged, Dynevor gets a promotion they both thought Ehrenreich was going to get. At first, Ehrenreich is ecstatic for her. That's short-lived though, and he begins a death spiral, fueled by jealously and a realization that he lacks whatever x-factor she has. It's a very familiar story. Maybe it's a different setting than I've seen before, but it's nothing new. And it's very extreme. What hurts is that Dynevor is the sole lead in this. We aren't following Ehrenreich's decent as closely as her rise, so few of his jealous boyfriend reactions feel as nuanced as her responses to them. The movie does still end with a dynamite scene, but it's not quite great enough to make up for the lesser story beats that led up to it.

Most days, I'll choose to look at this from the "sexy, tense thriller" perspective. However, if I hear too many people praise the originality of the movie, my contrarian side may pop up.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend