"Fair Play" is a gem of a directorial debut by Chloe Domont, because it's a taut, highly watchable unfolding story of a loving couple whose love story gets ripped to shreds in short order.
"Fair Play" is one of the best movies I have seen in ages. Phoebe Dynevor is nothing short of spectacular in this role. Any woman watching her performance will find moment after moment of truth in her responses throughout. One of the best parts of "Fair Play" is definitely Phoebe Dynevor, who is perfect for this role. Every moment is letter perfect, and her range of expression is really something to see.
Alden Ehrenreich is great in this too. He doesn't hold back in a very difficult role. His character, Luke, is determined to make a name for himself. He works hard, studies, and has put everything into rising in this particular firm.
The director Chloe Domont says she wanted to make a film about toxic masculinity. I admit, toxic masculinity is not an expression in my vocabulary. If I'd heard that was what this film was about in advance, I might not have watched it. To me, it's about much more than this, but it is indeed about the toxic masculinity of the character of Luke. An unexpected event turns him into more and more of a monster, when he's not being completely self-degrading.
The self-degradation of Luke is a repeated and often painful theme here. One thing that won't escape your notice is the fact that in so many shots, the character of Luke is positioned either seated, on the floor, or kneeling.
In the beginning, he's kneeling in a proposal to Emily, made in the bathroom where they've stolen away from his brother's wedding party. Later, he's kneeling at the feet of his boss and idol Campbell (played by Eddie Marsan) in a very misguided move he thinks will salvage his career. And of course there's the final scene where Luke is at Emily's mercy on the floor.
That first scene, which takes place in a restaurant bathroom, is funny and touching and crazy, and it's the last time we get to see the happy relationship between the couple.
Does Emily hesitate ever so slightly at the proposal, as the director says? Why, yes, she does. But not for long. She loves Luke and they've been together for 2 years, breaking company policy by being involved without yet disclosing this to the firm.
One of the final scenes also takes place in a bathroom, where horrifically, things descend to the worst of the worst in the one scene that is unwatchable in its brutality.
I almost marvel that this film was even made, because the light it shines on men-women relationships is so familiar and embedded in women's psyches that we don't even think about such things usually. But it's a truth that deserves this light.
The responses of Emily to her "dilemma" from early on are so dead-on, even though she's highly astute in her work world and has been from an early age, as we see when their legendary boss meets with her and quotes an article she had published in the Wall Street Journal when she was only seventeen.
When Emily finds herself unexpectedly promoted to a higher position in the firm where she works with her fiancé, she feels that, relationship-wise, she's stepped in the mud and must tread carefully.
As she walks home from what should be a great moment in her life, she's conflicted.
Only hours before, she'd heard that it was her boyfriend Luke who was to get the plum spot. That turns out to incorrect, but she's already told him the position is as good as his.
This begins the torturous downward spiral. But at first, it seems unwarranted. Luke warmly congratulates her, while Emily is hesitant and upset about any angst it's causing him that it's her and not him who got this sought-after promotion.
From the moment she tells Luke about her promotion, their sex life stops. Not long after, the craziness and gaslighting from Luke begins.
Emily continues being apologetic and at times desperate regarding this turn of events, because she knows what a blow this is to the man she loves.
Later we find out this blow is even tougher than we thought, because Luke idolizes their boss, Campbell, and has studied him like a book for years, wanting only to be in this firm and emulate him.
The Ending: What Really Happened?
As great as "Fair Play" is, the ending stumped me; even confused me.
What do we see? We only see Emily's face. Luke has just pleaded with her to not let this be the end. "It wasn't me," he says, referring to his crazed actions. "You know it wasn't me."
Emily crouches down, puts her forehead against his, and it almost seems that she's considering forgiving him for attempting to ruin her both professionally and personally.
But she really has no choice here. She says to her now-ex fiancé, "Now wipe the blood off my floor, and get out. I'm done with you now."
Then she pulls back and stands up again, with Luke still as ever on the ground level as she towers over him.
Then we hear a clattering sound. Emily observes and suddenly gasps with a smile. The end.
What happened??
The first time I watched it, I thought Luke had succumbed to the knife wound courtesy of Emily! I thought she was so overwrought that in that moment, she'd managed to kill him from loss of blood, and was even glad in that moment of madness.
That couldn't be it, right? I searched everywhere for "Fair Play ending explained" with no luck, not even from the director's own explanation. There were lots of results but not one of them actually explained the ending.
But now I know what happened. After watching "Fair Play" at least four times, I can tell you without a doubt what happens in the ending.
In all the havoc, I couldn't recall where the knife was. Now I know. It was still in Emily's hand.
Emily drops the knife; that's the clattering sound.
Why does she drop the knife? Why does she smile and slightly gasp?
Here's why: Luke did exactly what she asked. He really did begin to clean up her floor, just as he was commanded – clean up my floor and get out.
Emily had her moment of reckoning for him and it went even better than expected. That's why she had that surprised gasp.
Emily was pleased in the exact way the director had in mind as she explains this final scene. Chloe Domont has said in interviews that one of the messages of this film is that men must take accountability for their actions. And Luke has done the unforgivable to Emily in his escalating campaign of terror.
As Emily tells him, she was not about to let Luke show up and "act normal" and pretend nothing had happened.
Emily needed Luke to own up to everything. When he refused, she grabs the knife and makes her point and tells him exactly what he needs to say to her.
It wouldn't have even been enough if he'd just mouthed the words; after all, Emily was the one holding the knife and letting him know she meant business.
The most harrowing part of this scene was that in not taking her boss Campbell's advice to just "let it go," she was seriously risking an even worse outcome than the one in the bathroom a few nights earlier. She was risking someone getting killed, either herself or Luke. Was it REALLY worth avenging "toxic masculinity" by going that far?
No. But avenge him she did, because as Luke is obeying her commands to apologize, and to cry, it starts to sink in, and then Luke does weep and is appalled at what he's become.
What's so true about this movie is that women instinctively walk on eggshells the way she did. It's ingrained in us to support and protect the ego of a man who is important to us. Emily knows this from the second she's promoted; what she'd worked for has been handed to her but she can't exult in it. Even Luke tells her that night to enjoy it.
But his good wishes last no further than that moment. He goes so far down a hole of absurdity. In the meantime, Emily begins to embrace her new authority. But when saying the things she would normally say in that role, she has to say them to Luke too. That's what he can't take. Then in one of several heated moments to come, she calls him "pathetic."
"What did you say to me?" he asks her. True, she was half joking, but you don't call your fiancé pathetic. She's as upset as he is after she utters those words, but she's right. By that point, she's had to take all kinds of unwarranted misery from him.
The crazy thing is that the weapon Luke thought he had to ruin Emily's success turned out to be nothing. Once Emily was in the upper echelon, no one in charge cared who her lover was or about company policy. They only wanted her talent.
There's no going back for Emily and Luke here. Luke will never be able to forget how low he sunk in response to Emily's success, and Emily will always remember the horror she had to go through in her first major career triumph and recognition. And a horror it is; the director has notably built into her movie subtle elements of unease, dread, and horror against the mostly pulled together competitive world of work at their financial firm.
"Fair Play" is much more than this particular tale of woe for a once blissful couple on the brink of marriage. Don't miss it.
This trailer is spoiler-free and safe to watch. (There are other trailers for this movie which give away half the movie as most movie trailers do.)
