As Succession took the world by storm and proved that the financial drama was alive and well, I personally began to crave even more of them. On the other hand, a years-long craving on my end is the return of the erotic-thriller/drama sub-genre. Chloe Domont’s debut film Fair Play scratches both of those itches, as the film follows two lovers Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) right off the cusp of a steamy, unconventional marriage proposal. Riding off the high of their engagement, the film follows them into their job at a cutthroat hedge fund where both Emily and Luke are highly determined and committed to their positions. After an unexpected promotion occurs, the two are left questioning not only their occupation but their place in their own relationship, causing the entire thing to unravel insecurities and true desires.
A film that has a focal point of a relationship between two people can only be as good as the central performances from the actors portraying those two characters. Luckily for Fair Play, Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor are both two of the most talented actors in the business today and absolutely crush the material. Ehrenreich is a performer who has really impressed me ever since I first saw him in Hail, Caesar! and found him to be one of the quiet MVPs of this summer’s Oppenheimer. However, Fair Play is one of his best performances to date – Luke is a cocktail of toxicity and insecurity, and Ehrenreich mines that for nuance and all the moral greyness that he can. Dynevor serves as the perfect counterpoint, as she plays a character who is reluctantly put in a position of power and is forced to be confident in her abilities. She absolutely commands the screen in every frame she’s in, and together they’re absolutely dynamite.
The real star of Fair Play, however, is Chloe Domont. Whether it’s from her confident, steady, observant direction that makes this both a fascinating character study with patience and nuance, or her incredibly tight, focused, and insightful screenplay that examines gender roles, masculinity, lust, ambition, and more. The way Domont both writes and frames not only Luke and Emily’s relationship but also them as individuals is so expertly thought out and intriguing that I am shocked that this is a feature-length directorial debut, as it has the feel of someone who has been making films for a very long time. She makes their entire toxic, push-and-pull dynamic as erotic and sensual as it is devastating and frustrating; perfectly eliciting mixed emotions and questionable characters in a deliberate, meaningful way is one of the best trademarks you can find in a filmmaker.
There is a bit of a 20-minute window in Fair Play somewhere in the first half that I would say I was a bit confused as to where it was going and I was questioning whether or not it was fully working for me, but like all great films, it fully puts all its pieces into place and by the end has everything you’ve watched feel essential to the journey and final message the film leaves you with. Domont’s debut is nothing short of great, as it confidently and expertly explores topics and themes that you may have seen tackled before, but Domont explores them from her own perspective and makes sure to never give neither the characters nor the audience the satisfaction of easy answers. It’s a hell of a film!
4/5
Check out Fair Play, in theaters on September 29th and Netflix on October 6th,
Films for Breakfast 
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