The filmmaker of “Fair Play” analyzes and dissects that unexpected climax. Who was victorious?
Who is in the right?
Following financial experts Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) through the breakdown of their covert romantic relationship, the film Fair Play (which is currently available to stream on Netflix) leaves the audience with these issues as it draws to a close. Chloe Domont, a writer and filmmaker, is making her debut with a feature film featuring the complex and powerful story of a violent and destructive cycle. It all starts with Emily getting a promotion, which puts Luke’s delicate ego in jeopardy. At first glance, it would appear that he is completely in the wrong. Domont adds that she planned it to be that way and that she initially presented the film with an even stronger emphasis on Emily’s viewpoint.
According to what she shared with EW, “When I first wrote the script, it was a lot more one-sided toward Emily.” “But when I began to revise the script, and when I cast Alden, and when we had talks and started to rehearse, I discovered that the much more fascinating version of the picture was a little bit more gray, one that does go back and forth up to a certain time,” the director said. “It was at that moment that I realized that the much more intriguing version of the film was a little bit more gray.”
When Luke’s dealings get Emily in trouble with the boss, things quickly spiral out of control and become increasingly chaotic. She tells their manager, Campbell (Eddie Marsan), a lie about their relationship and claims that Luke has been stalking her. The truth is that Campbell doesn’t know anything about their relationship. Emily and Luke’s parents throw the couple an engagement party, which ends violently with Luke raping Emily in the restroom. The parents are unaware of the couple’s long-simmering animosity toward one another. Domont states, “I always knew I wanted to create this ballooning tension that, when it does pop, transforms into a dogfight.” “I always knew I wanted to create this ballooning tension that,” “Everything goes to hell in a handbasket.” The director believes that the rape that occurs in the bathroom scene definitively sells the idea of the movie to Emily.
He also says, “There is a distinct line drawn in the sand at a certain point in that toilet scene.”Emily’s reaction to the brutality of Luke’s deeds leads to the unsettling conclusion of the movie, in which she holds a knife to Luke’s throat and compels him to confess aloud that he is nothing. Domont makes the observation that “the manner in which Emily holds him accountable is in a cruel and ugly way.” However, Luke is the first person to recapture that authority through the use of physical force and physical abuse, which brings up a whole other can of worms. In the final scene, Emily tries to confront him by using her words, but he is the type of man who refuses to be held accountable on any single level. If she wants him to take responsibility for what he did, she is going to have to employ the same physical force against him as he used against her.
Domont makes the point that in the end, the scene is not about getting retribution. She explains, “It’s about getting this man to own up to his inadequacy because his unwillingness to face that creates so much ruin in the film for both her and himself.” “It’s about getting this man to admit that he’s not as good as other people,” she continues. “This isn’t really a movie about women taking control of their lives. This is a movie on the vulnerability of men. The entirety of the movie leads up to that one final statement, which is when she eventually gets him to admit that he’s nothing.
When composing Fair Play, Domont’s primary objective was to demonstrate courage by recognizing that the power dynamic in relationships is something that each and every one of us is familiar with, even if it manifests itself in far more nuanced ways than the circumstances depicted in the movie. Now, her aim is that the thought-provoking conclusion will get people talking enough to force them to examine the ways in which that relationship may be damaging.
The director draws the conclusion that “we’re all reluctant to talk about it because the masculine ego feels like something that is off limits,” and he says that everyone shares this fear. “In order to protect their emotional well-being, women are socialized to walk on eggshells.” The reason I decided to make this movie was because I kept finding myself in similar scenarios in my romantic relationships, but we never managed to find a common ground on which to have a meaningful conversation about it. Because if you don’t talk about it, you end up accepting it as the norm, it got to the point where I emotionally couldn’t handle it anymore. And when you accept it as normal, it produces this poison not only in your own body but also in the connection and that tie.”