''Fair Play'' is a 2023 American

erotic thriller film The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or erotic fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain in ...

written and directed by Chloe Domont, in her feature directorial debut. It stars

Alden Ehrenreich Alden Caleb Ehrenreich (; born November 22, 1989) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in '' Supernatural'' (2005), and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''Tetro'' (2009) and ''Twixt'' (2011). Following supporting roles in the 2013 ...

and

Phoebe Dynevor Phoebe Harriet Dynevor (; born 17 April 1995) is an English actress. Dynevor is known for her role as Daphne, the fourth Bridgerton child, in the Netflix period drama ''Bridgerton'' (2020–present). She began her career as a child actress, ...

as a young couple whose relationship starts to unravel following an unexpected promotion at a cutthroat

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

firm. Appearing in supporting roles are

Sebastian de Souza Sebastian Denis de Souza (born 19 April 1993)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England and Wales, 1916–2005'' B100D is an English actor. He is best known for playing Matty Levan in the E4 (TV channel), E4 teen drama series ''Skins (TV seri ...

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

and

Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), ''Celeste and ...

. ''Fair Play'' premiered at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

on January 20, 2023. It will be distributed by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Premise

An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat

firm pushes a newly engaged couple's relationship to the brink.

Cast

as Luke *

as Emily *

as Campbell *

as Paul *

Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville (born 19 May 1967) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the film ''Gosford Park'' (2001) and the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Her other roles have included ''My Week with Marily ...

as Emily's Mother Source:

Production

The film was announced in December 2021, with Chloe Domont writing and directing the film, and

and

set to star in the film. Production began in January 2022 in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. In February, with

and

joining the cast.

Release

''Fair Play'' premiered at the

on January 20, 2023. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film, after a bidding war between half dozen companies, for $20 million.

Reception

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Fair Play'' holds an approval rating of 90% based on 77 reviews with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "With assured style that's at times reminiscent of the best '90s nail-biting thrillers, ''Fair Play'' juxtaposes premarital disharmony with greed and gender politics in the cutthroat finance world." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 18 reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews". In his review for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine,

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

lauded Domont's screenplay and direction, as well the cast performances, writing that "''Fair Play'', while full of sex, money, corporate backstabbing, and a lot of other things that are fun to watch, really ''is'' a good little movie." Describing it as a "steamy, razor-wired, barking-mad movie" in his review for

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

, Ryan Lattanzio assigned the film a grade of A- and praised the screenplay and cast performances (particularly Ehrenreich's).

Kevin Maher Kevin Andrew Maher (born 17 October 1976) is a former professional footballer and coach who played as a midfielder. He is head coach of National League side Southend United. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland internationall ...

of the ''Times'' gave it a score of 4 out of 5, stating: "There’s something bracingly modern yet deliberately old-fashioned about this guilty pleasure thriller set in the aspirational world of Manhattan high finance." ''Geek Girl Authority'' said: "''Fair Play'' is a tense, relentlessly crafted adult thriller. The simmering tension baked into the narrative, complete with a sprinkling of erotic drama, shows up-and-comer Chloe Domont bringing the erotic thriller into the new millennium. This challenging narrative won’t be for everyone, but if you can meld with the ambiguity and the tension, you’ll be pulled right in."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 16304446 2023 thriller films 2023 films 2023 directorial debut films 2023 independent films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s erotic thriller films American erotic thriller films Films about finance Films shot in Serbia Media Rights Capital films Upcoming Netflix original films