Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor star as Luke and Emily in “Fair Play.” (Courtesy of Netflix)
Sometimes, what you want from a film and what it wants to give you are two different things.
That was the case for us with “Fair Play,” a thriller from Netflix getting a limited theatrical release this week before hitting the streaming platform on Oct. 6.
It isn’t that it goes in a different direction from what we’d hoped that gives us hesitation in recommending it, however, but, instead, it’s its over-the-top final act that doesn’t track with what comes before it.
It is built around a relationship — that of Phoebe Dynevor’s Emily and Alden Ehrenreich’s Luke — that, while full of promise, turns toxic.
Our hope was for a careful examination of male-female power dynamics, one in which we could appreciate the points of view of both parties much, if not all, of the time.
However, in making her feature debut, writer-director Chloe Domont is more interested in a portrait of a man slowly (and then not so slowly) revealing to Emily (and us) that he is a real creep, a pathetic and insecure man who takes out his frustrations on her and doesn’t deserve her in the least.
We have no problem with that. Countless women have had to deal with countless creeps, as the #MeToo movement has made vividly clear. And Domont says in the film’s production notes that she began writing the screenplay “as a reckoning of sorts. It came from this feeling I was having at a certain point in my life when my success didn’t feel like a win, it felt like a loss.”
You can’t help but empathize with Domont, who goes on to say she had been in a relationship with someone threatened by her ambition — and by even a small accomplishment she had. After that relationship failed, she says, she found herself in similar partnerships over the next several years.
As “Fair Play” begins, it would seem Emily has found herself a keeper in Luke, who proposes after their steamy, alcohol-fueled and, um, awkward bathroom encounter during a celebration thrown by his family on the day of a wedding. The ring he’d been carrying around in his pocket has fallen on the floor.
“What the (expletive) is that?” she asks.
“Marry me,” he says.
“You’re drunk.”
“Yeah,” he counters, “but I was sober when I bought it.”
She accepts, of course, and they are still excited when a phone alarm wakes them the next morning.
She leaves the ring behind as they head off for work, the two soon parting and, as we suspect, arriving at the same place of business, a New York City financial firm. Their relationship is very much a secret, they exchange small talk with colleagues about their weekends in an elevator.
They are among the analysts making recommendations to project managers for big buys and sell-offs in this firm run by Eddie Marsan’s ruthless Campbell. When a PM gets the ax, Emily hears a rumor Luke will be replacing him and excitedly, if quietly, passes on the information to Luke.
It is she, though, who is tapped, at a meeting at a bar with Campbell that’s so late at night — well, early in the morning — that Luke seems legitimately concerned about her safety. (Or is he merely possessive?)
Arriving home, she eventually tells him the news, and he does his best to sound excited and seem supportive.
As “Fair Play” rolls on, though, and he offers what he would have her believe are constructive thoughts about how she dresses and more, we certainly suspect otherwise.
Again, if you’re hoping to ever side with Luke in “Fair Play,” give up that hope. Emily eventually frustrates us, too, during a moment that probably is more believable than we’d like to think, sadly.
It doesn’t help matters that Ehrenreich (“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Peacock’s “Brave New World”) struggles as the villain. In his hands, Luke doesn’t ooze enough charm for us to love to hate him; we just hate him.
It’s a different story with Dynevor (“Bridgerton”), whose Emily is likable and relatable — full of understandable insecurities despite being a young, attractive woman who, more importantly, is very good at her job. Again, she should kick Luke to the curb halfway through the movie, if not sooner, but we can buy that she doesn’t.
We can’t quite buy what comes later. At the very least, we hope it doesn’t closely mirror anything Domont experienced.
Speaking of Domont, whose credits include directing episodes of “Ballers” and “Shooter,” she shows a lot of promise. Many individual scenes are well-constructed, and “Fair Play” boasts its fair share of tension.
Collaborators including director of photography Menno Mans, production designer Steve Summersgill and costume designer Kate Forbes help contribute to a slick overall look that befits its Big Apple setting.
At the end of the day, while we didn’t find the final act anything other than disappointing, we allow “Fair Play” as a whole — especially its potentially cathartic closing scene — may speak more to anyone who’s had to deal with one or more Lukes.
‘Fair Play’
Where: Select theaters and Netflix.
When: Sept. 29 (theaters); Oct. 6 (streaming).
Rated: R for pervasive language, sexual content, some nudity, and sexual violence.
Runtime: 1 hour, 53 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.
