If there was any justice on the planet, the rise of streaming would spark revivals of the genres that the normal studios have deserted — i.e. just about all the ones that don’t contain superheroes or science-fiction. The erotic thriller (or actually any image that offers with issues of sexuality in a critical method) looks like precisely the form of a film that’s crying out for extra consideration on these platforms, which will be loved within the consolation and privateness of 1’s own residence. So one thing like Fair Play, a thriller with just a few fashionable twists, is a welcome addition on Netflix for that purpose alone. I simply want it had been a greater execution of a really promising concept.
The concept: Financial analysts Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are an influence couple within the making. They work collectively at a high-powered New York City hedge fund, dealing in inventory transactions value tens of tens of millions of {dollars}. Unbeknownst to their co-workers, Emily and Luke are additionally a pair away from the workplace. As the movie begins, Luke awkwardly proposes to Emily at a marriage, and she or he fortunately accepts. When their colleagues aren’t trying, they’ve a particularly lively intercourse life. It looks like they’ve acquired all of it found out.
Reader, they don’t have all of it found out. Turnover at their funding agency is excessive, and when Luke’s boss will get canned, Luke figures he must be in line to interchange him. Instead, the corporate’s head honcho (Eddie Marsan) offers the job to Emily — which means Luke has not solely missed out on a promotion he believes he deserves, he now stories to his fiancé.
On paper, it’s the right setup for an exploration of gender and energy dynamics within the fashionable office; a Disclosure with out the extremely foolish finale involving unhealthy digital actuality. But whereas Fair Play is positively much less foolish than Disclosure it’s not rather more critical — and it’d really be so much much less provocative. As excessive as ’90s thrillers had been, at the least they had been admirably edgy of their themes (and, sure, generally fairly horny as properly).
In Fair Play, every thing about this story looks like a fait accompli. Emily’s promotion doesn’t a lot poison her relationship with Luke because it spontaneously combusts it; as an alternative of watching their gradual decline, Luke nearly instantly turns into a distant, resentful monster. Within minutes, he’s misplaced his confidence at work and within the bed room, and turns into consumed with the teachings of a poisonous self-help guru he finds on the web. There’s little or no suspense the place issues are headed, and never a lot stress.
It additionally feels slightly disconnected from the world of Wall Street it’s supposedly exposing. Most of the key scenes involving Emily and Luke’s jobs proceed in comparable trend: A bunch of macho finance bros sit round a giant convention desk monologuing about fictional shares — till Emily inevitably interrupts with some stunning details about some new growth that solely she has heard about, and everybody else within the room acts like a bomb simply exploded at their toes. Fair Play was additionally largely shot in Belgrade, and takes place in a handful of swanky eating places and glossy, glass-walled places of work. The actual New York taste important to this story is usually lacking.
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Dynevor and Ehrenreich are each very simple on the eyes, and when the story permits — which isn’t that always — they do have chemistry collectively. Their remaining scenes crackle with a darker and extra disturbing power as properly. But Fair Play’s center part offers neither of them very a lot to do past a repetitive collection of clashes, some passive-aggressive, some aggressive-aggressive, the place Emily continues to climb the company ladder and Luke sinks deeper into self-loathing.
The mere existence of Fair Play makes me completely satisfied; that is precisely the form of film Netflix and its opponents ought to make extra usually. But in the event that they made them slightly extra intense and stunning, I might not complain.
RATING: 5/10
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