fairplay netflix movie reviews

After its splashy debut at Sundance in January led to a pricey acquisition by Netflix, Chloe Domont ’s high finance romantic thriller “Fair Play” finally made its international debut at TIFF. The (mostly) two-hander, about the implosion of a secret relationship between two hedge fund analysts, has lost none of its urgency in the interim, largely because of a barn burner of a performance from Phoebe Dynevor and writer/director Domont’s impregnable vision.

We first meet Dynevor’s Emily, an analyst at a cutthroat New York financial firm, with her back turned to the jubilant attendees of a party. She’s out on a cold ledge alone, smoking a cigarette. Quickly, she’s joined by Luke (the always alluring Alden Ehrenreich ), her co-worker and covert live-in lover. He whisks her into the party—his brother’s wedding—where his uncle calls her the “prettiest girl in the room,” then dashes off before Luke can say she’s much more than that. Emily is clearly not comfortable in this world, but her chemistry with Luke is off the charts. Before long, they’re in the bathroom having sex, her menstrual blood staining their wedding clothes. A ring tumbles out of his pocket, a hasty engagement is made, and their passion ignites.

The next day, the two awaken on their apartment floor, where they landed after more lovemaking. It’s 4:30 a.m., and the two are in lockstep as they prepare for the day, making coffee, getting dressed in their perfectly fitting power suits (and Em’s six-inch heels), only parting ways as they head to the train, a tactic to hide their relationship—which is against company policy—from the rest of the office. They’re equals at the firm, ambitious analysts, hungry for a promotion. When one of the portfolio managers quits in a theatrical and physical rage that results in a call to security, they’re both eager to take his place. Em hears a rumor it will be Luke, but when the opposite comes true, their carefully calculated careers—and romance—slowly go off the rails. 

With subtle changes in dialogue and striking visual cues, Domont’s tightly structured script and deft direction show this relationship’s eventual total destruction. When Em is first called up at 2 a.m. to learn the news of her promotion, Luke stays up until she returns, worried she may have been assaulted. Later, he turns this on its head, accusing her of sleeping to the top. That first morning, the lovers were entwined as they slept together; in the next, they sleep rigidly in their beds, then Em alone on the couch, until one morning, Luke is nowhere to be found. Their rift becomes a literal chasm. 

Scattered throughout “Fair Play” are breadcrumbs about Em and Luke’s economically divergent backgrounds. They’re both Ivy Leaguers, but she’s from Long Island and got there through a scholarship. Once she entered the job market, she had to field sexism in ways Luke would never understand. Until he starts to weaponize this very sexism to undermine her. When Luke takes a course by a motivational speaker who barely hides his misogynistic techniques, he uses his newfound tools to take her down a peg. At one point, Luke says she dresses “like a cupcake,” a neg that needles her to start second-guessing not only her wardrobe but her business instincts as well.

Although they can both technically do this job and are equally committed to doing the work, it’s clear early on that her instincts, coupled with her work ethic, make her a better employee. And yet Luke clings to a sense of entitlement as if he’s owed this job and this life because he’s wanted it so badly for so long. This kind of entitlement is a luxury for Em, who has worked her ass off for as long as she can remember.

Along with her insightful examination of office politics and sexism, Domont also explores the dynamics at play in their relationship sexually. At first, their passion and carnal lust are equal; they’re partners in each other’s pleasure, with Luke going down on Em. But as her star rises at work, his resentment manifests in impotence, later in the power of withholding sex, and finally in force. Though the metaphor is occasionally heavy-handed, it’s effectively employed to show how male violence is weakness, not strength.

Ehrenreich tackles Luke’s arc from supportive partner to maniacal foe with aplomb, but this is Dynevor’s film from start to finish. Her strength comes mostly from her reserve in public, only letting Luke see the looser her. But as the stress at work and home mounts, she must find ways to charm all the men in her life—without ever letting them know it. 

Throughout most of the film, Dynevor holds her body rigid, towering in her sleek yet uncomfortable heels, only allowing her emotions to show in brief flashes of anger, joy, or stress across her face. This control over her expressions becomes harder as Luke’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Yet, even as she projects one version of herself, Dynevor’s breakout performance shows the strain that this double identity takes on her through just a deep breath here, a hidden look of sorrow there, or a slight tremble in her response to a co-worker. 

Em eventually lets loose in a fiery speech and scene that borrows heavily from the George Cukor classic “Gaslight,” starring  Ingrid Bergman . Fans of that film that has launched a million misinterpretations will enjoy Domont’s steady grasp on how the phrase is not just rooted in a generic manipulation of someone’s reality but also the power dynamics of a couple and their private and public perceptions. Domont’s homage, in dialogue and blocking, is far more earned than most modern evocations of the term (which is, interestingly, never uttered in “Fair Play”). 

Domont’s perfectly calibrated script occasionally veers into the overly theatrical, its grand monologues and rigid back-and-forth dialogue not helped by the film’s limited and repetitive settings. However, her thrilling mastery of slow-burn tension, insightful examination of power dynamics in business and personal relationships, and creation of exceptional performances prove Domont to be a director with a singular voice.

This review was filed from the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. “Fair Play” will be in theaters on September 29th and available on Netflix on October 6th. 

Marya E. Gates

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Other bylines include Moviefone, The Playlist, Crooked Marquee, Nerdist, and Vulture. 

• Phoebe Dynevor as Emily
• Alden Ehrenreich as Luke
• Sebastian de Souza as Rory
• Eddie Marsan as Campbell
• Rich Sommer as Paul
• Geraldine Somerville as Emily's Mother
• Sia Alipour as Arjun
• Jim Sturgeon as Uncle J
• Jamie Wilkes as Quinn
• Brian McOmber
• Chloe Domont
• Franklin Peterson

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fair Play’ on Netflix, a Scorching Erotic Thriller Marking Phoebe Dynevor’s Emergence

Where to stream:.

• Fair Play (2023)
• Phoebe Dynevor

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Sexy netflix movies: 9 steamy netflix original movies, ‘fair play’ ending explained: what that dramatic final scene means, ‘fair play’s’ period sex scene is a brilliant way to trick audiences into loving alden ehrenreich.

Sex and money and power – all the stuff of Fair Play (now streaming on Netflix), a scintillating erotic thriller set in the world of high-pressure hedge funds. It’s the feature-length directorial debut from Chloe Domont, who graduates from TV like Suits , Ballers and Billions to this steamy, high-wire drama starring Alden Ehrenreich ( Solo: A Star Wars Story ) and Phoebe Dynevor ( Bridgerton ) as Wall Street traders or analysts (or whatever) who share a bed and share office space, but when there’s only one open slot for a promotion… uh oh. Just HOW uh oh does it get? Pretty damn uh oh, as it turns out.

FAIR PLAY : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Forgive me for being vague, but it needs to be said that Fair Play starts with menstrual blood and ends with regular blood-type blood. It’s emblematic of the white-hot, high-pressure love story of Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehernreich, who’s now played a Luke and a Han), who can’t keep their hands off each other. And it’s not just lust – in the opening sequence, Luke proposes and she accepts, because they’re very much in love love love. But it needs to stay a secret – they work together, and fraternizing with other employees is against company policy. They leave for work and take different routes and show up at the office and pretend to be merely cordial. If that seems a bit regressive, well, it seems less so as the context is more fully established and this plot unravels. And boy, does it unravel.

See, Luke and Emily work for a finance company. A hedge fund, I think – for us plebes, it all sounds like jibberjabber from Uranus. At least on a base level, it’s one of those cutthroat competitive offices where you buy buy buy and sell sell sell and when project managers inevitably get axed, the wolves go for each other’s throats to see who can become the next sub-alpha to the big, rich boss. One guy gets the ax and as he screams obscenities and smashes up his office with a golf club, the lower-rung employees (analysts? Traders? Does any of this mean anything in a non-psychotic work environment?) shrug and turn up the volume on the sexual harassment video they’re being forced to watch. It’s the kind of job that makes scraping sewers look like a sweetheart gig.

Anyway. That office is open and Emily overhears chatter that Luke is gonna be the guy to fill it. Hooray? But then she gets a phone call that wakes her up and she’s summoned to a bar at 2am and the big, rich boss (Eddie Marsan) is sitting there. The promotion is hers. Hooray? But Emily’s the rare female in his office, so it’s a grotesque boys’ club, and rumors fly that she slept her way to the position, and on top of that, she feels pressure to be one of those boys, those gross, gross boys. Things are OK at home with Luke, though. For now. Sort of. Until he starts to wonder if she did do those unsavory things to get the gig. Nevermind that she’s really good at her job, and is willing to use her newfound power to help him get the next promotion. 

Either way, cracks in their relationship start to show. He resists her sexual advances. They work on a deal that costs the company millions and the big, rich boss calls her a “dumb f—ing bitch”; they work on a subsequent deal that earns the company many more millions than it lost, and the big, rich boss hands her a big, fat commission. Meanwhile, her pushy-pushy mother takes it upon herself to organize a fancy dinner party to celebrate Luke and Emily’s engagement just as stress levels start pegging over into the red. This movie – it’s been a rumbling volcano, and it’s about to erupt. 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Fair Play is an inspired blend of the high-pressure/high-finance drama of The Big Short or Wall Street — or even the HBO series Industry — with the sexy-psycho stuff of thrillers like Unfaithful or Body Heat . 

Performance Worth Watching: Dynevor is revelatory here, meshing perfectly with a fine-tuned, well-considered screenplay that gives her a character with room for exploring gray areas. Emily’s far from perfect, but is nevertheless sympathetic, and fully realized thanks to Dynevor’s performance.

Memorable Dialogue: This one’s such a doozy, I need to wholly decontextualize it: “If I can’t make you cry, I’m gonna make you bleed.”

Sex and Skin: Yes. Lots of it. (Note, some of it is troublingly violent.)

Our Take: CAPITALISM! Ain’t it grand? Sexism, too – can’t forget the sexism. But Fair Play is a far cry from 9 to 5 ; it fearlessly updates the male-female workplace power dynamic to modern standards, which is to say, it paints a portrait of male toxicity that pushes past amorality to near-fatality. And it’s riveting.

Domont zooms in tight on her leads, letting Ehrenreich (in easily his best performance) and Dynevor root out the complexities of their characters within gruelingly intense scenarios. As it turns out, Luke can’t handle the blow to his ego, and Emily might not be able to handle her newfound power. He turns to books and videos by a self-help guy who gives us a slight whiff of Tom Cruise in Magnolia ; she devotes herself to pleasing the big, rich boss and fitting in with the lads to the point where she agrees to celebrate a big win by not only joining them at the strip club, but impressing them by making it rain. 

Nobody with more than three functioning brain cells will be surprised to see Luke and Emily’s relationship erupt with fissures in the wake of such fundamental change. His character is either deeply altered – or truly revealed – as he comes to understand that he may simply not be good enough to acquire the job he’s worked toward his entire career, to meet the standards of, frankly, the horrible human beings that are his superiors. It’s compounded by the fact that the freshly empowered woman he fornicates with tries to be the aggressor in the bedroom, which just doesn’t seem to turn him on. Meanwhile, Emily seems to understand that this particular brand of professional power is inevitably fleeting, but pursues it anyway, perhaps because she’s come to realize that her fiance is, deep down, a tantrum-prone toddler who’s too flimsy to engage in self-reflection.

I think the core question of Fair Play is whether Emily and Luke are fundamentally flawed people, or if the world made them that way. Domont seems slightly noncommittal, which is a good thing – nobody’s perfect, and our tendency to want to side with Emily is challenged by her complexities. But Domont isn’t at all interested in presenting us with a movie about an unblemished princess who gets a stain on her dress. No, she wants to paint a portrait of individuals trapped in a world corrupted by men pursuing, yes, sex and money and power, all the “benefits” of amoral capitalism. The film doesn’t ask why, it just shows what it does to the human soul.

Our Call: STREAM IT. One more takeaway: You could make a lot of money in finance. Or you could be a perfectly happy teacher or postal clerk or sous chef, and thankful for it.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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What happens when your secret fiancee becomes your boss? Find out in 'Fair Play'

Aisha Harris

A cutthroat power couple Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) end up in a power struggle in Fair Play. Sergej Radovic/Netflix hide caption

A cutthroat power couple Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) end up in a power struggle in Fair Play.

Are straight cis men OK?

This is a question that's haunted generation after generation, in one way or another. It usually arises in the wake of major wars or progressive political and cultural movements. And it always finds its way into art, as creatives probe the dark recesses of rattled, insecure men who feel as though their dominance is threatened by the gains of others.

As evidenced by so many events and trend pieces of the last few years, we are presently in such a moment. Fair Play , the moody, unflinching feature debut of writer-director Chloe Domont, meets us here in titillating fashion: It's about Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), a conventionally attractive and career-minded heterosexual pair who embodies a surface-level version of the "power couple." They're young, horny for each other, and poised to make a ton of money working in finance. As the movie begins, they steal away from a wedding reception to have sex in a harshly lit bathroom, resulting in a laughable mishap and an impromptu marriage proposal in front of a toilet, after the engagement ring accidentally tumbles out of Luke's pocket.

So this is love.

But then one of them gets a promotion over the other at their cutthroat hedge fund – go ahead and guess which one ... why yes, you're absolutely correct, it's Emily – and things get awkward.

Luke and Emily (Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor) have a hard time withstanding a dynamic shift in power at work in Fair Play . Sergej Radovic/Netflix hide caption

Luke and Emily (Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor) have a hard time withstanding a dynamic shift in power at work in Fair Play .

Compounding this already-tenuous dynamic is the very nature of their romantic relationship. Emily and Luke's romance is a secret, and now he's both her secret lover and her direct report. (Outside of work, it's unclear if they have any semblance of a social life; as everything from Boiler Room to Industry has suggested, when not doing copious amounts of coke and hitting up strip clubs with colleagues, people in finance barely exist outside of shorting stocks and wooing big-time investors at all hours of the day.)

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Luke, whether he's willing to admit it or not, begins a descent into crisis mode.

Fair Play is visually moody and stylish, with most scenes taking place indoors and in dark spaces with warm, golden-toned lighting (upscale bars, restaurants) or, in contrast, the depressing dull-gray of their austere office. To its benefit, the movie isn't as high-concept as some of its cinematic contemporaries in exploring the dangers of the wounded male ego; it's not rendered metaphorically through Gothic body horror , idyllic mid-century Americana , or an iconic children's toy . Instead, Domont crafts it as a blunt, withering workplace/domestic melodrama hybrid, an all-too-real depiction of the curdling of a relationship contaminated by intense ambition and jealousy.

On paper and in practice, Emily is a top-tier broker, an overachieving Harvard grad whose keen instincts about the market impress her gruff boss, Campbell, played gamely by Eddie Marsan. Luke, on the other hand, is merely coasting by. Nevertheless, Emily believes in Luke and is convinced she can help secure him the next promotion that arises; in her mind, they're in this together. That's not quite true.

The situation here is deliberately gendered, but Fair Play still manages subtle characterizations. Luke isn't a cartoonish misogynist. Ehrenreich convincingly depicts him as someone caught grappling with the experience of having two distinct and wholly relatable reactions at the same time: happiness for someone else and disappointment for one's self. In this case, that tension manifests in escalating digs and jabs. He begins to retreat from Emily outside of the office and becomes obsessed with the hacky self-help musings of a motivational speaker. (His confidence is zapped, but he maintains a stranglehold on his sense of entitlement – the gall.) He's snippier; the sex dries up.

Fair Play is a blunt, withering workplace/domestic melodrama hybrid, an all-too-real depiction of the curdling of a relationship contaminated by intense ambition and jealousy. Above, Alden Ehrenreich as Luke. Courtesy of Netflix hide caption

Fair Play is a blunt, withering workplace/domestic melodrama hybrid, an all-too-real depiction of the curdling of a relationship contaminated by intense ambition and jealousy. Above, Alden Ehrenreich as Luke.

Emily isn't simply a victim of patriarchy, though; Dynevor plays her as steely and strategic in that ruthless male-dominated work environment, willing to let sexism and verbal harassment from her colleagues wash over her as she plots to ascend the ranks. At home, it's another story, where she confronts Luke's insecurities head-on, pushing back against his increasingly bitter demeanor. In a way, their story reverberates like a corporate world A Star Is Born , except the rising female powerhouse refuses to let her spiraling partner bring her down, even as she fights desperately to try and save their relationship.

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Luke's resentment builds believably to a nightmarish crescendo that has striking consequences for their relationship and their positions at the firm – it's both a completely familiar and utterly astonishing outcome to behold, one that's played out in relationships in some form of the extreme since, well, forever. Of course, it feels especially acute now. The draw of Fair Play lies in the alignment of that inevitability with Domont's dynamic storytelling vision. It more than meets this umpteenth era of male "crisis."

• chloe domont
• phoebe dynevor
• alden ehrenreich

Review: Bedroom and boardroom intrigue abounds in Netflix’s wickedly entertaining ‘Fair Play’

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Chloe Domont’s “Fair Play,” a smart, crackling thriller about sex, money, gender and power in the modern age, begins with a wickedly funny omen. Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), hot and horny and deliriously happy, have slipped away from a wedding reception (not theirs) for a bathroom quickie — an ill-timed tryst in every sense, leaving Emily’s dress and Luke’s lips stained with menstrual blood. They gasp in shock but laugh it off; they’re too drunk, on booze and each other, to worry about what everyone will think. And then Emily spies the ring that’s slipped out of Luke’s pocket, spurring him to drop clumsily to one knee, red of lip but gallant of spirit, and offer up a sweet if singularly indecent proposal.

By next sunrise, the newly engaged lovers have sobered up, and the question of what everyone will think reasserts itself. A clever sequence chronicles their morning ritual at their Chinatown apartment, as they scrub away any hint of romantic afterglow, don trim, dark suits and head off on their own separate ways — and arrive, almost simultaneously, in the same elevator of the same Lower Manhattan glass-and-steel fortress. Emily and Luke are both junior analysts at a hedge fund, One Crest Capital, and their relationship is a violation of corporate policy. So far they’ve managed to keep it off the books, hoping that someday soon they’ll be successful enough to go public without fear of repercussions.

But what if one of them succeeds and the other doesn’t? Specifically, what if Luke, though rumored to be in line for a promotion, turns out to be just another Wall Street mediocrity, soon to be kicked to the curb if he doesn’t quit in frustration or jump out a window first?

And what if Emily, who’s been quietly knocking ’em dead for months, is summoned to have a drink in the middle of the night with the big boss, Campbell (Eddie Marsan, icily mesmerizing), and told that she’s the company’s newest portfolio manager? In some ways, we already know the answer as soon as Emily anxiously returns home to deliver the good news. Luke’s first reaction is to wonder if Campbell made a pass at her, an expression of concern that is also, of course, the ultimate insult. And as the truth sinks in, not even his stiffly congratulatory smile (“I’m so f— proud of you,” he says, a little too forcefully) can conceal the shock and resentment in his eyes.

Things clearly aren’t going to end well. But if “Fair Play” spends the better part of two hours tracing this newly lopsided romance to its logical, unhappy conclusion, the blow-by-blow machinations are still a chilly wonder to behold. What gives the movie its driving tension isn’t just the glaring imbalance between Emily and Luke as employees, but a deeper incompatibility between the personal and professional imperatives they’ve chosen. Modern romance insists on projecting at least the illusion of equality, but the cutthroat capitalist world in which Emily thrives (and where Luke struggles to maintain a foothold) has no real use for appearances. You‘ve either got it or you don’t.

The tension builds slowly but deliciously, as the leads lock us into an ostensible battle of the sexes that neither character can win. Ehrenreich, whose dark-princeling good looks can curdle at will, makes Luke a fascinating swirl of ego, entitlement and fragility. He fumes in silence at his desk, listening as his co-workers speculate about who Emily must have screwed or screwed over to get ahead. (Does he want to defend her honor or join the pile-on?) Compounding his humiliation, he now reports to Emily, answering her questions, taking her orders and offering buy-or-sell recommendations that she has the power to accept or reject.

Domont, making a sharply assured feature debut, knows her way around these gleaming corridors of power. (Her TV credits include episodes of “Suits,” “Ballers” and “Billions.” ) What she’s mounted here is less a throwback than an up-to-the-minute rejoinder to corporate thrillers like “Wall Street” and “Disclosure,” among other touchstones of the ’80s and ’90s Michael Douglassance. A lot may have changed since then (the technology, for starters), and also since the rapacious ’60s sexism of “Mad Men,” an allusion prompted by Rich Sommer’s sly performance as Campbell’s silky No. 2.

But “Fair Play” knows that less has changed than we‘d like to tell ourselves, and not even the ostensible reforms of #MeToo can chase away the inherent misogyny of the elite corporate class. On the contrary, the genuine progress that Emily’s elevation represents can all too easily be weaponized against her, dismissed as a sop to political correctness over merit. And if Domont has a sharp ear for the breathlessly impenetrable jargon of high finance, she’s also keenly attuned to the piggish wisecracks that pass for small talk. For Emily, a bad day means Campbell calling her a “dumb f— bitch” to her face; a good night means proving she can roll with the boys and celebrate a six-digit commission at the local strip club.

Shooting through glass partitions and around multi-screen computer terminals, Domont extracts drama and meaning not just from her characters’ desperate glances and conspiratorial whispers, but also from the very layout of the office itself, where the hierarchies are etched into the floor plan and the ugly fluorescent lighting exposes every lie and magnifies every tension. She and her cinematographer, Menno Mans, draw a stark visual contrast with Emily and Luke’s dimly lit, sparsely furnished apartment, where their once-loving dynamic struggles to reassert itself. The movie keeps following them back and forth, between boardroom and bedroom, turning these public and private worlds into complementary, near-contiguous war zones.

“Fair Play” doesn’t entirely avoid a trap common to its subgenre, namely that what happens at the office is inevitably more scintillating — and persuasive — than damn near everything else. At home, Luke spirals, sputters and loses himself in self-help banalities, while Emily tries in vain to re-energize their sex life, a subplot that puts maybe too fine a point on her fiancé’s professional impotence. Some late family drama creeps in from the sidelines, but it feels like an unnecessary distraction, an attempt to add yet more stories to an already precarious house of cards. It all falls apart spectacularly, of course, with two tough, punitive scenes of violence — one utterly horrifying, the other undeniably satisfying. Rarely has “cutting your losses” taken on such cathartic new meaning.

'Fair Play'

Rating: R, for pervasive language, sexual content, some nudity and sexual violence Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 29 at Landmark Pasadena Playhouse; Landmark Theatres Sunset, West Hollywood; the Landmark Westwood; starts streaming Oct. 6 on Netflix

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‘Fair Play’ Review: A Riveting Financial Drama Dunked in Up-to-the-Minute Sexual Politics

Chloe Domont's first feature, about two romantically entangled office workers at a ruthless hedge fund, has much to say about the post-#MeToo world and has a lot of fun saying it.

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“Fair Play” joins their accomplished company, and part of what’s entertaining about it is that the characters, analyzing which assets to invest in or drop, speak in a way that’s so fast and dense with inside information that the film isn’t asking us to keep up with every word. It’s asking us to take in the underlying logic of the transactions: how each decision to buy or sell is based on knowledge about the companies that the analysts have plugged into with an eerily awesome facility. It’s as if they’re placing bets not on horses but on skittery 3D holograms whose profiles keep changing.

Both work there as analysts, but they’ve kept their romantic liaison a secret. As we learn, it’s not because they’re so private; it’s because the relationship violates company policy. The film uses this post-#MeToo, all-too-real-world situation to produce scenes that tap into a new flavor of office drama, as the two have to act studiously nonchalant with each other. But after the hedge fund’s “PM” (portfolio manager) gets fired and smashes up his office with a golf club, his position is suddenly open, and Emily, leaning over Luke’s multi-colored computer screen, can’t resist telling him about the rumor she’s heard: that the position is going to go to him. Instead, Emily gets a call during the wee hours, summoning her downtown to have a drink with Campbell (Eddie Marsan), the boss and owner of the company. He lets Emily know that it’s her, in fact, who’s going to be the new PM.

As soon as she breaks the news to Luke, he reacts in a manner that’s textbook perfect in its warmly congratulatory and supportive way. When he says, “I’m so fucking proud of you,” it’s with a crinkled grin of sincerity. But it’s a sign of what a subtle movie “Fair Play” is that we don’t need to see Luke’s underlying disappointment; we can read it in Alden Ehrenreich’s vibe. He’s an actor I confess I’ve been down on ever since “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” because I thought he was so dismally inadequate as the young Han Solo. But now I see why. There’s something officious about Alden Ehrenreich. He’s not a bruiser; he’s a cerebral mover and shaker. And that makes him perfect to play a would-be finance hotshot who has learned to keep his thoughts under wraps, and now has to do it even in his love relationship.

Luke is assigned to be Emily’s analyst, which means he works directly under her; he makes recommendations about which liquid assets to trade, and she decides. We can tell how this is going to go as soon as he delays answering one of her email requests (he only waits about 30 seconds, but the dragginess speaks volumes). And when he makes an urgent plea for a buy, and it turns out that his information was wrong and the trade tanks, the situation blows up. The boss’s reaction, hearing that the fund has lost millions, is not pretty. In fact, it’s shocking. He calls Emily a “dumb fucking bitch” to her face. But we’re meant to understand that the abusive language, even in this era, is there to signify the cult of hedge-fund ruthlessness — a cult that Emily, like everyone there, wants to be part of, so she shuts up about it. And when she makes a trade, based on her own hunch, that turns into a bonanza, all is forgiven. The next morning, she strolls in, triumphant, and Campbell slips her a commission: a check for $575,000.  

He’s a loser at the company simply because he’s not one of the (few) winners, and the worm of doubt that begins to eat away at him rears its head when he asks Emily, with seeming innocence, whether their boss, during that late-night drink, tried to put the moves on her. In a lesser movie (e.g., if “Fair Play” had been made by the Adrian Lyne of the ’90s), Luke’s paranoia about infidelity would have expanded in him and taken over. But here the point is much slyer. He’s not really concerned about infidelity. He’s using the prospect to undercut Emily’s competence — to say, in essence, “The boss may have designs on you. Which is the real reason you got this.”

Emily, in Luke’s eyes, can’t win. She goes out with the top-level managers for drinks, even tagging along with them to a lap-dance club, where she plays along with their frat-house skeeviness, because she knows that’s what she has to do; she’s got to be in the boys’ club to be a winner. But when Luke calls her out for it, tweaking her with the grim condemnation, “You don’t look like one of the boys,” it’s a great line that crystalizes male #MeToo paranoia. He’s saying, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” The dialogue between these two slowly escalates into a blizzard of power gamesmanship. It’s like the great restaurant argument early on in “Triangle of Sadness” that I so wish Ruben Östland could have sustained.

A hedge-fund office is a unique place, light years away from most of us, but Chloe Domont uses the office here to channel something about the spirit of our time. There’s plenty of obscene jousting, and the finance patter makes the characters sound like computers on Adderall, yet there’s no real bonhomie, no joy outside the momentary ping of the next deal. Eddie Marsan’s luscious performance as Campbell incarnates the new era. He’s pitiless and all-knowing, with a stare that could slice through a glacier. The men in the office — and yes, it’s just about all men — recognize that they’ve created a culture of sociopaths, and they’re cool with that. To pretend otherwise is not to win. Your only god is the market.

Is Luke jealous of Emily? Most definitely. But “Fair Play” is a good movie because his jealousy expresses something larger — the way that the future-is-female energy of her promotion skewers his place in the universe. And once he reveals his true colors, so, to our shock, does Emily. She lets out what she was holding in, and Phoebe Dynevor’s performance, which has been at once ardent and contained, erupts in a way we weren’t expecting. Emily has earned her place among the gladiators, which Luke has said he supported. But the real question she’s asking is: How do you like me now?

Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 21, 2023. Running time: 113 MIN.

• Production: An MRC Film, Star Thrower Entertainment, T-Street production. Producers: Leopold Hughes, Ben Leclair, Tim White, Trevor White, Allan Mandelbaum. Executive producers: Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Chloe Domont. Camera: Menno Mans. Editors: Franklinm Peterson. Music: Brian Mcomber.
• With: Phoebe Dynover, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan.

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Fair Play Reviews

Turning this power-driven human drama into a sweaty palm, pulse-pounding thriller may be one of the most subversive moves we’ve seen a filmmaker make recently.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 22, 2024

In her unpredictable feature debut, writer-director Chloe Domont stares down toxic relationships and deconstructs the dynamic with masterful exposition.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 26, 2024

Reminiscent of the hit television drama Industry, director Chloe Domont’s debut feature on two ambitious financial analysts caught in a doomed relationship is slick, sexy and all kinds of enjoyable.

Full Review | Jul 18, 2024

And old-school suspense thriller...You won't believe the ending. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 23, 2024

Effective sound design and solid acting anchor an overdetermined and melodramatic plot.

Full Review | Jan 3, 2024

In his debut feature, Dumont demonstrates a great narrative pulse, crafting a thriller that works like a pressure cooker, with a payoff that is as inevitable as it is surprising.

Full Review | Dec 29, 2023

The plot of Netflix's 'Fair Play', is a brilliant combination between erotic thriller, contemporary ambition and violence. All in the middle of the most sophisticated financial scenario. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Dec 19, 2023

What should become a raging fire of betrayal and deceit never generates more candlepower than a plug-in air freshener.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 4, 2023

A seductive thriller that meticulously explores corporate greed and gender politics.

Full Review | Nov 26, 2023

A great surprise...It has the feel of a lost erotic thriller from the 80s or 90s, and yet, the story is given modern sensibilities.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Nov 17, 2023

Fair Play is a thorny, gnarly, tangled web that’s woven by Domont’s deft hands.

Full Review | Nov 13, 2023

Fair Play features two phenomenal and emotional performances at the center, and there is an intensity that will have viewers locked in until the end.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 10, 2023

Domont creates a story to not only expose how deep-seated patriarchal norms are in corporate culture, but to also honestly portray how its victims will often attempt to believe those hurting them most are still worth saving.

An off-putting exercise in workplace intrigue, full of slick surfaces, performative smoking, and people horndogging in suspiciously forceful ways.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 5, 2023

Avoiding the restrictions of a standard erotic thriller, this brutal drama expertly and equally explores the explosive passions of its two characters in a truthful, vivid, and unflinching way.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 29, 2023

First-time feature director Chloe Domont knows how to draw the audience in. The way she builds tension with the most minimal devices, utilizing the already-strained dynamics of a hedge fund company and a rich arsenal of quips, is immensely pleasurable.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Oct 29, 2023

A provocative thriller that explores the gender dynamics in today's world. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 28, 2023

...a solid drama that benefits substantially from the top-tier efforts of its stars...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 27, 2023

Regardless of how you feel about stock market films, this exceptionally well-acted relationship thriller is guaranteed to entertain, even if it will ruin Alden Ehrenreich for you (because he's so hissably awful)

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 26, 2023

The dedicated performances from Phoebe Dyvenor and Alden Ehrenreich make it a gripping viewing experience, emphasizing the film's thought-provoking messages about gender politics and seeking equal recognition based on merit rather than gender.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 25, 2023

‘Fair Play’ a searing, nicely sordid psychosexual thriller in the world of high finance

The toxic romance of two analysts at a hedge fund turns bitter when one gets promoted..

Hedge fund colleagues Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) keep their relationship secret at work in “Fair Play.”

Writer-director Chloe Domont’s searing and electric “Fair Play” is set in present day but in many ways feels like a throwback psychosexual thriller a la “9 ½ Weeks” and “Disclosure,” “Fatal Attraction” and “Unfaithful.” Nearly everyone in this film behaves as if we’re in a time and place at least a generation prior to the age of #MeToo, and that might stretch credulity — until you realize there probably are some workplaces in which far too many people still behave as if they didn’t get the memo.

This is a lurid, cynical, nasty, rough piece of work, and I mean that in the best possible way. With Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo: A Star Wars Story”) and Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne in “Bridgerton”) delivering arguably the most memorable work of their relatively young careers, writer-director Domont displaying a gift for brutal and at times almost campy dark dialogue and cinematographer Menno Mans providing the film noir visuals, “Fair Play” is a mesmerizing study of two people who have convinced themselves they’re madly in love when in fact they’re trapped in a quagmire of toxicity that could ruin both of them if someone doesn’t wake up and escape to the other side of the globe. It’s also sexy as hell and so bruising in a couple of instances that I was reminded of Neil LaBute’s pitch-black minor classic “In the Company of Men.”

The opening scene feels like something out of a crime family movie, with Ehrenreich’s Luke introducing Dynevor’s Emily to his kin at his brother’s wedding reception:

“Uncle J, this is the woman I can’t stop talking about.”

“So, Mister Ivy League has the best-looking girl in the room. … If this guy gives you any kind of trouble, just let me know, I’ll sort him out.”

One half-expects to hear a Rolling Stones song on the soundtrack and a Scorsese-esque voice-over narration.

We cut to Luke and Emily in the bathroom, with Luke gushing about how much he effing loves Emily as they start consuming one another, and let’s just say things take a turn you almost never see in a mainstream movie — and we’ll later get a bathroom sex scene that’s even more jarring.

We soon learn Luke and Emily have risen above their respective working-class upbringings and both work as financial analysts at One Crest Capital, a high-end, cutthroat hedge fund in Manhattan. (Although Emily and Luke have been together two years, live together and just got engaged, they’ve kept the relationship a secret so as not to violate company policy.)

What a place, this One Crest Capital. The team of analysts who work the phones and sit glued to their multiple computer screens is about 99% male and 95% white, with the project managers and the firm’s president, Campbell (Eddie Marsan in a great performance), carrying out their Masters of the Universe business in glass-walled offices. They engage in sexist banter and couldn’t care less if it offends.

When a portfolio manager is fired and starts destroying his office with a golf club, his colleagues keep watching a deadly dry Human Resources video, turning up the volume and chuckling quietly over the breakdown taking place across the way. Hmmm, that means a promotion is open, who do you think will get it?

Both Luke and Emily believe it’s Luke’s time — but Emily is summoned to a bar at 2 a.m. by the coolly intimidating and all-powerful Campbell, who informs her that she’s got the job. Boom! Just like that, the dynamic between Emily and Luke changes drastically, with the unctuous Luke saying he supports Emily even as his eyes flicker like a serial killer. This guy is NOT happy with having to report to Emily, especially after he commits an eight-figure blunder while Emily is dazzling Campbell and her fellow portfolio managers with whiz-bang unicorn killer declarations such as, “Quinn bought it at 26. We should sell now and buy in on YData. The market doesn’t understand the stock. … Revenue is up 45%, year-over-year, and trades at a low multiple to my forward sales projections.” Who knows what that means, but it’s impressive as all get-out.

Emily starts dressing and comporting herself like a 1940s femme fatale, owning her status, even going out with the boys for a night of debauchery at a strip club. (Luke isn’t invited. He’s not in that stratosphere.) Luke continues to unravel, wallowing in a pool of self-pity, rage and jealousy, refusing to have sex with Emily, snarling at her and hurling accusations of her sleeping with Campbell, because in his twisted viewpoint that’s the only way she could have been promoted over him. Emily is no saint, either, as she drunkenly calls Luke “pathetic,” is seems horrified by the idea of the engagement party her mother wants to throw for her and at times almost seems to be turned on by Luke’s despair.

They’re a mess, these two. Whether they stay together or set fire to this relationship, neither is walking away unscathed.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple's relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement. An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple's relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement. An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple's relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement.

• Chloe Domont
• Phoebe Dynevor
• Alden Ehrenreich
• Eddie Marsan
• 269 User reviews
• 127 Critic reviews
• 73 Metascore
• 11 nominations

Top cast 35

• Emily's Mother

• Robert Bynes

• Luke's Mother

• Theo Luke's Brother

• Mrs. Meyers

• Noah Analyst #1

• Harris Analyst #2
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The rights to this film were sold to Netflix for $20 million.

Emily : I think expectations are way out of whack.

• Connections Referenced in Amanda the Jedi Show: I Watched 45 Movies in 1 Week | 'Talk to Me' and the Best Movies of Sundance 2023 Explained (2023)
• Soundtracks Love to Love You Baby (Extended Version) Written by Donna Summer , Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte Performed by Donna Summer Courtesy of Island Records Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews 269

• evanston_dad
• Nov 1, 2023
• How long is Fair Play? Powered by Alexa
• October 6, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• Film Sözlük
• Netflix Site
• Juego limpio
• Media Rights Capital (MRC)
• Star Thrower Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 53 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Should You Watch Fair Play? Review of the Netflix’s Drama

Our PLAY, PAUSE, OR STOP review of Netflix's big new thriller.

Picture: Netflix

The latest Netflix relationship drama, Fair Play , is now streaming, but should you give it a watch?

Acquired by Netflix out of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival , Fair Play is the feature film debut for writer/director Chloe Domont, who worked predominantly as a TV writer & director on shows such as Ballers , Billions , and Shooter . The film was also a first for the Rian Johnson (Knives Out) led T-Street Emerging Filmmaker Initiative as Fair Play was the debut production under their new venture.

Set in the world of high finance in New York City, the story focuses on the relationship between two hedge fund analysts, Emily ( Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke ( Solo: A Star Wars Story star Alden Ehrenreich), whose secret intimate relationship reaches new heights when Luke proposes to Emily at his brother’s wedding. However, when a coveted promotion arises at their firm, once supportive exchanges between lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. The young couple’s relationship is pushed to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent pledge of commitment. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, the couple must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition.

Described as a reckoning of sorts for Domont after years of unhealthy relationships with men who were threatened by her ambition & accomplishments, Fair Play unpacks a lot of the wrongs with the current standards & roles each gender has to live up to or play along with when it comes to their careers. Women afraid of success for the potential emasculation of their partners or male peers; men raised on the belief that they have to provide, lead, and conquer their respective fields in order to fulfill their birth rights. The story plays as the intersection of those tragic & destructive forces where the fragile ego of the man destined to take his seat at the throne is upended when his closest ally moves up instead.

When asked in the press interview for the film how the themes she explored spoke to modern gender roles, Domont explained how, on some level, we are all Emily and Luke:

“How much power ingrained dynamics still have over us. How incompatible a capitalist society is with love. How difficult it is to sustain a relationship. How hard it is for men to feel worthwhile when roles and rules are changing faster than we can adapt. How trapped women feel by their success. How we’re all scared to talk about it. How we still can’t figure each other out. How we’re scrambling — for connection, for meaning, for proof.”

Throughout most of the film, especially in the first 2 acts, Domont’s execution on her themes and orchestration of the chemistry & believability of her leads is worthy of praise and some of the most compelling work of the year so far. Each unsettling moment of insecurity, each unhinged rationalization, each gaslighting power play; they all work to ratchet up the tension to the mania that unfolds in the film’s final act.

However, as much as I admired the film’s construction and many admirable messages, I must admit it took me multiple watches of the final 30 minutes to be more at peace with how Domont landed her story. Initially, like many who may see it this weekend for the first time, I felt borderline unclean seeing what transpired at the couple’s engagement party and the fallout of those events. Noting in that previous press interview that she likes to take audiences on a ride, keep them on the edge, shock them, mortify them, (and) move them, Domont clearly does that and more, which may make for a more polarizing response from her viewers. Upon my first encounter, as things got uglier and uglier, I found it tough to live in the gray where the momentum of the story seemed to falter. However, I don’t think a story like this is meant for tidiness or righteousness, nor was Domont’s intentions. While it may take away its rewatchability, the film’s final moments do speak to the intensity of the relationship, the cutthroat nature of their chosen careers, and the volatility of the gender role purgatory we find ourselves in during the modern era. It may not be pretty. It may not be what we envisioned for Emily after she’s put through hell. But it seems more accurate to the toxic situation laid before us for the previous 90 minutes.

While the landing may be in question to some, the performance and chemistry in its main cast is inarguably successful. Dynevor & Ehrenreich hold the tension in every permutation of their destructive affair and veteran supporting performances from Eddie Marsan ( Ray Donovan; Sherlock Holmes ) & Rich Sommer ( Mad Men ) heighten the depravity & constant anxiety of the hedge fund environment.

Overall, Fair Play may not play nice with everyone who watches it, but its messages, performances, & well-constructed tension make the uneasy ride worthwhile. An impressive feature film debut for Chloe Domont with incredible chemistry between Dynevor & Ehrenreich. The film begs for you to respond, even if that response is pure disgust. However, after multiple viewings, I believe my response lands more in admiration for its craftsmanship than repulsion for its conclusion.

Watch Fair Play If You Liked

• Promising Young Woman
• Fatal Attraction
• An Education
• North Country

MVP of Fair Play

Phoebe Dynevor as Emily

While known primarily for her television work, most notably on Netflix’s popular costume drama Bridgerton, Phoebe Dynevor proves with her performance in Fair Play that she will not be limited to one side of the fence. In Emily, Dynevor displays an incredible range tapping into the fear of emasculating her partner over celebrating her worthy successes and cratering slowly under the weight of his jealous hostility and gaslighting remarks. Her chemistry with her co-lead Ehrenreich is undeniable and brings out the best in the film’s gritty storytelling. Adding in her solid performance in Bank of Dave earlier this year, we may be seeing the breakout of a young movie star in the making.

PLAY, PAUSE, OR STOP?

A gripping thriller with a brutal, unflinching delivery. Worthwhile themes layered over less than morally sound leads living in a cutthroat world of high finance. While it may rub people the wrong way by its conclusion (including myself the first time around), that is largely by design.

Andrew Morgan is a film critic & podcaster with 20 years of experience on the sets & offices of film & television. Current podcast host of the entertainment review show, Recent Activity. He lives in the Northeast of the United States.

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Fair Play director breaks down that shocking ending

Chloe Domont walks us through the surprising conclusion to her feature debut.

Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight , is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Fair Play.

Who won? Who's right?

Those are the questions Fair Play (streaming now on Netflix) leaves the audience with at its conclusion, following financial analysts Emily ( Phoebe Dynevor ) and Luke ( Alden Ehrenreich ) through the implosion of their secret romantic relationship.

Writer-director Chloe Domont makes her feature debut with the twisty, intense tale of a vicious, toxic cycle. It begins with Emily's promotion, which threatens Luke's fragile ego. At first, he appears entirely in the wrong. Domont intended it that way and says she initially pitched the film even more firmly on Emily's side.

"When I first wrote the script, it was much more one-sided toward Emily," she tells EW. "But as I started to rewrite, and when I cast Alden and we had discussions and started to rehearse, I realized that the much more interesting version of the film was a little bit more gray, one that does go back and forth up until a certain point."

Things go increasingly off the rails when Luke's dealings land Emily in hot water with the boss. She lies to their manager, Campbell (Eddie Marsan), about their relationship, claiming Luke has been stalking her. Unaware of their simmering loathing, Emily and Luke's parents throw the couple an engagement party, which ends brutally with Luke raping Emily in the bathroom. "I always knew I wanted to create this ballooning tension that, when it does pop, it turns into a dogfight," Domont explains. "All hell breaks loose." For the filmmaker, that rape unequivocally pitches the film to Emily, adding, "There is a clear line drawn in the sand at a certain point in that bathroom scene."

The violence of Luke's actions propel Emily to the film's disturbing conclusion where she holds Luke at knifepoint and forces him to say out loud that he is nothing. "The way that Emily holds him accountable is in a brutal, ugly way," Domont notes. "But Luke is the first one to reclaim that power through physical force and physical abuse that opens a whole can of ugliness. Emily tries to use her words in that final scene to confront him, but this is a man who refuses to be held accountable on any single level. If she wants to hold him accountable, she's going to have to use the same physical force that he used against her."

Ultimately, the scene isn't about revenge, Domont points out. "It's about getting this man to own up to his inferiority, because his inability to face that causes so much destruction in the film for both her and himself," she says. "This isn't really a film about female empowerment. This is a film about male fragility. The whole film builds up to that last line where she forces him to finally acknowledge that he's nothing."

Domont's biggest goal with writing Fair Play was to be bold and acknowledge that this power dynamic in relationships is something we all experience, even if it's in much more subtle ways than the context of the movie. Her hope now is that the provocative conclusion will get audiences talking enough to confront the ways that dynamic can be destructive.

"We're all afraid to talk about it, because the male ego feels like something that is off limits," the director concludes. "Women are taught to walk on eggshells trying to protect it. The reason why I made this film is because I had been experiencing these situations over and over again in relationships, and it was never anything that we could talk about. It got to a place that felt untenable for me emotionally, because if you don't talk about it, you normalize it. And when you normalize it, it creates this poison not only in your own body, but in the relationship and that bond."

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Fair Play review: a cutting, messy thriller

“Fair Play is an imperfect, but relentlessly engaging thriller that is, above all else, an effective showcase for its two stars.”

• Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor's combative lead performances
• Chloe Domont's cool, controlled direction
• Franklin Peterson's slick, unobtrusive editing
• A third act that goes to louder and broader places than it should
• A disappointingly one-note finale

How does love die? Is it at the hands of one fatal blow, or dozens and dozens of tiny, nearly imperceptible cuts? In writer-director Chloe Domont’s feature film debut, Fair Play , the latter is the method of choice. The film, a corporate drama about a pair of secret workplace lovers whose romance is threatened when one is promoted over the other, is a thriller of a thousand knives. As a battle of wills between its two stars, the film is a gripping showcase for both Solo ‘s Alden Ehrenreich and Bridgerton  breakout Phoebe Dynevor, but it’s even more effective as a portrait of all the little slights, misinterpretations, and insecurities that can tear down even the strongest of romances.

In the months since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Fair Play has been repeatedly labeled as an “erotic thriller” in the same vein as 1990s hits like Eyes Wide Shut and Fatal Attraction . To compare it to those films, though, feels like a mischaracterization. While sex is a prominent part of the new drama, its importance to Fair Play ’s plot is slight compared to the role that gender-informed workplace politics plays in the disruption of its central romance. The film has more on its mind than just sex, and its most memorable moments involve Domont’s keen understanding of how the tiniest of pauses and most fleeting of looks can inspire doubt — both romantically and professionally.

Outside of one accidental, awkward smearing of blood, Fair Play ’s opening minutes don’t hint at the numerous dark turns its story will take. On the contrary, the film’s prologue paints its two leads, Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehrenreich), as a pair of young, inseparable lovers who have a hard time keeping their hands off each other even in the most public of places. There’s only one problem: They’re not supposed to be together. The high-profile hedge fund firm where they both work has a strict non-fraternization policy — one that Luke and Emily have been breaking for months unbeknownst to their cutthroat boss, Campbell (a powerfully taciturn Eddie Marsan).

Despite the challenges their unique situation presents, Emily and Luke’s first day back at the office in Fair Play could have, like the film’s prologue, been pulled right out of a lighthearted romantic comedy. The characters spend their hours at work sharing secretly flirtatious glances, covertly hashing out their nightly plans via text, and using business-related excuses to stand over each other’s desks. While not ideal, it’s clear that the two have found a way to make their clandestine relationship work that they both enjoy. That, of course, all changes when Campbell indirectly summons Emily to a bar at 2 a.m. and offers her the promotion that had previously been rumored to be Luke’s.

From there, the desynchronization of Emily and Luke’s relationship swiftly begins. When she returns home, he takes her initial silence and saddened expression as signs that she was sexually harassed by Campbell. Once she reveals the truth, Ehrenreich breaks out into a perfectly unconvincing smile and the lies, misinterpretations, and cracks in the foundation of their relationship only continue to gradually grow. It’s in these smaller moments, like Luke’s gritted teeth reaction to Emily’s promotion, when Domont’s writing and direction feel the most precise.

The director always seems aware of where to put the camera in order to highlight the growing rift between her two leads. Domont doesn’t need to do anything overly complicated to accomplish that, either. Instead, she’s able to use just a small drift away from Emily and a subtle focus shift to reveal Luke taking a few too many extra seconds to respond to one of Emily’s work messages. Later, she finds a way to block her actors so that both Dynevor and Ehrenreich are in the same frame at the exact moment when Emily unknowingly makes a sarcastic comment that Luke immediately takes too personally. Altogether, these moments only further emphasize the cool, controlled power of Domont’s direction.

At no point throughout Fair Play does it seem like the filmmaker is in danger of losing visual control of the film. The same cannot be said, however, for Domont’s script, which hints at several prickly, stomach-churning ideas about the intersection between power and love before settling on a conclusion that is too concrete and obvious. The progression of Luke and Emily’s romantic disintegration is delicately stretched across Fair Play ’s plot, but once the dysfunctional nature of their relationship has grown to disastrous levels, the film begins reaching toward the kind of climactic moments and decisions that are too broad for a movie that spends so much of its runtime being anything but.

Fair Play ’s narrative missteps only serve to magnify the power of its lead performances. Coming several years after her breakout turn in Bridgerton season 1, Dynevor gets the chance to give another potentially starmaking performance as Emily, a character whose moments of silent panic and frustration allow the actress to properly stretch her acting muscles onscreen. Ehrenreich, meanwhile, follows up his redeeming turn in Oppenheimer  earlier this year with another performance that reminds us, once again, why he was viewed as one of the most promising stars of his generation before he was briefly swallowed by the Lucasfilm machine.

For a film that isn’t afraid to take its story to legitimately violent places, it speaks to the strength of Domont’s filmmaking and the performances given by her leads that nothing in Fair Play cuts quite as deeply as the moment just before Luke seizes on an opportunity to ridicule his partner. Ehrenreich, eyes ringed red and face covered in unshaven stubble, cocks his head to the side and clicks his tongue seconds before delivering an undeserved insult. The words he hurls are disturbing on their own, but it’s the obviously unscripted physical movement that comes just before he speaks that truly reveals the intense resentment bubbling beneath the surface of Fair Play .

Once the time comes for those feelings to truly and completely bubble over, the film doesn’t quite know how to handle the inevitable mess that follows. In that sense, Fair Play ’s flaws reflect those of its characters, whose abilities to control the world and their lives don’t extend nearly as far as they think.

Fair Play is now available to stream on Netflix. For related content, we’ve rounded up all the best movies on Netflix , the best movies on Hulu , the best movies on Amazon Prime , and the best movies on Disney+ . For Netflix fans, check out the 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now .

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With its lush sets and perpetually probing camera, Decision to Leave looks and moves like any other Park Chan-wook film, but it reverberates with the same untempered passion present in Golden Age noirs like In a Lonely Place and Double Indemnity. Unlike those two films, though, which center their stories around a hot-tempered screenwriter and naïve insurance salesman, respectively, Decision to Leave follows another common noir archetype: the lovelorn detective (played here by Park Hae-il).

In the film’s opening moments, Hae-jun, the detective in question, lands a case involving the mysterious death of a recreational rock climber. The case, in typical noir fashion, leads to Hae-jun crossing paths with Seo-rae (a spellbinding Tang Wei), his victim’s gorgeous but eccentric widow. Perturbed by how disinterested she is in unpacking her abusive husband’s death, Hae-jun begins to tail and spy on Seo-rae, unaware that doing so will only further intensify his attraction to her. As far as noir plots go, this is about as familiar as it gets. With its nods to Hitchcock and lightly self-aware attitude, Decision to Leave makes it clear that it doesn’t mind treading the same narrative terrain as so many of the noir classics that have come before it, either.

At a time when anti-Semitic extremists are storming the U.S Capitol, running for office, and declaring war on Jewish people via social media, it might not be the best time for a movie that expects you to sympathize with Nazis. And yet, that hasn't stopped Operation Seawolf from sailing into theaters and on-demand streaming services this month.

The film, which follows the crew of a German U-boat during the waning days of World War II, casts Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV) as German war hero Capt. Hans Kessler, who's ordered to lead the Nazis' remaining U-boats on a desperate (and likely fatal) mission to attack the U.S. on its own soil. As he and his crew make their way toward New York City in one final bid to turn the tide of war, Kessler finds himself struggling with both the internal politics of the ship and his own sense of duty as the Third Reich crumbles around him.

It’s spooky season this month, and that means the atrocity mine is currently being plundered by content creators across America. The three-episode docuseries Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, directed by noted documentarian Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost), is Netflix’s second project tackling the infamous cannibal/necrophiliac/serial killer to debut in a matter of weeks. It follows Ryan Murphy’s 10-hour miniseries drama, Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This Dahmer double dose mirrors the barrage of Ted Bundy content that Netflix put out in early 2019, following up the Zac Efron-led drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile with the docuseries Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (also directed by Berlinger). 

As was the case with Bundy, Netflix is convinced that a multipronged examination of Dahmer could lead to a better understanding of his psychology and motivations, teaching viewers warning signs or expanding our capacity for empathy. Or maybe they recognize that people are addicted to unspeakable tragedies and will do anything they can to maximize viewers’ compulsion for true crime? Attempting to satisfy on all accounts, The Dahmer Tapes oscillates uneasily between character study, social commentary, and pure shock value, landing somewhere in between all three. In Dahmer's own words

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What's New on Netflix in October 2023

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Who's Haunting Glenn Close in the Netflix Horror Movie 'The Deliverance'?

The 7 best new movies coming to netflix in september 2024, the 81 best movies on disney+ right now (august 2024).

October means that spooky season is officially here, and it also means that an exciting batch of titles will be heading to Netflix this month.

Mike Flanagan , the horror mastermind behind The Haunting of Hill House , The Haunting of Bly Manor , and Midnight Mass , returns with the all-new series The Fall of the House of Usher . Loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe , including the short story of the same name, the limited series follows a corrupt CEO of a pharmaceutical company who must face the demons of his past when all of his children start dying in brutal ways. The series features an ensemble cast that includes Carla Gugino , Bruce Greenwood , Zach Gilford , Kate Siegel , Rahul Kohli , Henry Thomas , Mark Hamill , Carl Lumbly , T'Nia Miller , Malcolm Goodwin , and Samantha Sloyan .

October will also bring some highly anticipated new films, including David Yates ' satirical crime film Pain Hustlers , starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans as two pharmaceutical reps who become entangled in a criminal conspiracy. Alden Ehrenreich and Bridgerton 's Phoebe Dynevor star in Chloe Domont 's erotic thriller Fair Play , which follows a newly engaged couple whose relationship is tested after one of them scores a promotion at the hedge fund they both work for. Comedian Bill Burr will make his directorial debut with the R-rated comedy Old Dads ; Burr stars alongside Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine as three middle-aged best friends who sell their company to a group of trendy millennials.

Popular Netflix original shows, such as the Omar Sy series Lupin and Nick Kroll 's raunchy animated comedy Big Mouth , will have new seasons streaming in October, alongside exciting new series such as Neon and Everything Now .

Fan-favorite film titles such as Denis Villeneuve 's Dune , Silver Linings Playbook , Gladiator , Love Actually , A Beautiful Mind , Catch Me If You Can , The Amazing Spider-Man , and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol will all be heading to Netflix this October.

Check out the list below to see what else is heading to Netflix in October.

Related: 'The Fall of the House of Usher' Review: Mike Flanagan Successfully Merges Edgar Allan Poe and 'Succession'

Coming Soon:

ONEFOUR: Against All Odds (AU) -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Available October 1:

60 Days In: Season 4

A Beautiful Mind

American Beauty

American Made

BlacKkKlansman

Catch Me If You Can

Cinderella Man

Django (Season 1)

Drake & Josh: Seasons 1-3

Dune (2021)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Hot Tub Time Machine

Identity Thief

Kung Fu Panda

Love Actually

Margot at the Wedding

Miss Juneteenth

Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible III

My Best Friend's Wedding

One Piece - Anime (New Seasons)

Role Models

Runaway Bride

Saving Private Ryan

Sex and the City 2

Sex and the City: The Movie

The Adventures of Tintin

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The House Bunny

The Little Rascals (1994)

The Monuments Men

The Transporter Refueled

War of the Worlds

Available October 2:

Strawberry Shortcake and the Beast of Berry Bog

Available October 3:

Beth Stelling: If You Didn't Want Me Then -- NETFLIX COMEDY

Available October 4:

Beckham (UK) -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Keys to the Heart (PH) -- NETFLIX FILM

Race to the Summit (DE) -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber: Season 1

Available October 5:

Everything Now (UK) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Khufiya (IN) -- NETFLIX FILM

Lupin: Part 3 (FR) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 6:

A Deadly Invitation (MX) -- NETFLIX FILM

Ballerina (KR) -- NETFLIX FILM

Fair Play -- NETFLIX FILM

Available October 7:

Strong Girl Nam-soon (KR) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 9:

Blippi's Big Dino Adventure

Stranded with my Mother-in-Law (BR) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 10:

DI4RIES: Season 2 Part 1 (IT) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Last One Standing: Season 2 (JP) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 11:

Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Once Upon a Star (TH) -- NETFLIX FILM

Pact of Silence (MX) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 12:

Deliver Us from Evil

The Fall of the House of Usher -- NETFLIX SERIES

GOOD NIGHT WORLD (JP) -- NETFLIX ANIME

LEGO Ninjago: Dragons Rising: Season 1: Part 2 -- NETFLIX FAMILY

Available October 13:

The Conference (SE) -- NETFLIX FILM

Ijogbon (NG) -- NETFLIX FILM

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

Spy Kids 3: Game Over

Available October 14:

The Misfits

Available October 15:

Camp Courage -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Available October 16:

Oggy Oggy: Season 3 (FR) -- NETFLIX FAMILY

Available October 17:

The Devil on Trial (UK) -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Heather McMahan: Son I Never Had -- NETFLIX COMEDY

I Woke Up A Vampire -- NETFLIX SERIES

Silver Linings Playbook

Available October 18:

Kaala Paani (IN) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 19:

American Ninja Warrior Seasons 12-13

Bebefinn: Season 2

Bodies (UK) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix -- NETFLIX ANIME

Crashing Eid (SA) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Crypto Boy (NL) -- NETFLIX FILM

Ghost Hunters: Seasons 8-9

Neon -- NETFLIX SERIES

Available October 20:

Big Mouth: Season 7 -- NETFLIX SERIES

Creature (TR)-- NETFLIX SERIES

Disco Inferno -- NETFLIX FILM

Doona! (KR) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Elite: Season 7 (ES) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Flashback -- NETFLIX FILM

Kandasamys: The Baby (ZA) -- NETFLIX FILM

Old Dads -- NETFLIX FILM

Surviving Paradise (UK) -- NETFLIX SERIES

Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris (UK) -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

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Maiara walsh wraps on directorial debut ‘bight’; stars opposite cameron cowperthwaite, mark hapka & maya stojan in indie thriller, breaking news.

• Phoebe Dynevor Joins Zac Efron In Celebrity Thriller ‘Famous’ From Black Bear And A24

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EXCLUSIVE: Phoebe Dynevor is set to join Zac Efron in director Jody Hill’s latest feature film , Famous ,  a provocative Los Angeles-set thriller that explores the dark side of celebrity.

In  Famous , Zac Efron ( The Iron Claw,   The Greatest Showman ) will star in dual roles, playing both overzealous fan, Lance Dunkquist, and Hollywood heartthrob, James Jansen. The film is based on the acclaimed novel by bestselling author Blake Crouch and is adapted for the screen by Chad Hodge, who also adapted Crouch’s  Wayward Pines  trilogy into a series.

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Zac Efron Says He's "Happy And Healthy" After Hospitalization In Spain

A24 recently secured the domestic distribution rights to the film, reuniting with Efron after last year’s  The Iron Claw , which grossed $45M worldwide and earned Efron some of the best reviews of his career for his emotional turn as wrestler, Kevin Von Erich. WME Independent and CAA Media Finance brokered the sale. Black Bear is handling international sales.

Famous  is being produced by Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton for Esmail Corp. and Michael Sagol for Caviar. Executive producers include Nick Krishnamurthy for Esmail Corp and Allison Hironaka for Caviar.

Dynevor rose to fame on Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton , where she played Daphne Basset for two seasons, the first season remaining one of the most viewed on the streamer with 113.3M global views. Dynevor is coming off the best reviews of her career for her role in Netflix’s thriller,  Fair Play , which premiered at Sundance 2023 was quickly sold in a highly competitive sale to Netflix. The film earned her a BAFTA nomination in the EE Rising Star category. She can next be seen in  Inheritance  which is being released in 2025.

Dynevor is represented by WME, United Agents and Luber Roklin Entertainment.

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9 new horror movies on Netflix, Prime Video, Shudder, and more in September 2024

Ready to relive these horrors over and over again?

It's here, the final stretch into spooky season. That magical time of year when the best streaming services ramp up their horror offerings to lure you in ahead of the major October rush. Yes, September is no slouch when it comes to must-see titles on the docket. 

Halloween anthology flick Trick 'R Treat might be a good spot to start to get you primed for the chillier season ahead. And as per usual, Shudder is a goldmine of newer releases with the likes of Damian McCarthy's Caveat follow-up, Oddity , set to drop toward the end of the month and the slasher spin-off In A Violent Nature also poised to make you drop your lunch. 

Those in the US can also look forward to the trippy dream space of I Saw The TV Glow as it arrives on Max later this month. Read on for the rest of our best horror movies picks to stream in the run up to October.  

Happy Death Day (2017)

When: September 1 Where to stream it: Peacock (US); Tubi (UK); Paramount Plus , Binge (AU)

With word continuing to mount that we may one day see a final installment to Christopher Landon's time travel horror series, now's the perfect time to dive into where it all started. A masked killer, a Groundhog Day -style loop, and a star-making turn from Jessica Rothe; if you've never seen Happy Death Day then you're in for a treat. 

Rothe steals the show as Tree Gelbman, a college student who finds herself reliving the day of her murder over and over again. In order to stop the loop and solve her own death, she embarks on a journey that involves montages that are equal parts chucklesome and brutal. A concept that's beautifully executed by Landon and gave us a superior sequel in Happy Death Day 2 U . 

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

When: September 1 Where to stream it: Amazon 's Prime Video (UK, AU); Netflix (US)  

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While John Carpenter's 1978 classic is considered the masterwork of halloween horror, there's room for other monsters to come and play on All Hallow's Eve . Michael Doughtery's anthology pic from the late 2000s is a cult classic of sorts, accruing fans steadily over the years thanks to its willingness to push into heavy gore and grot from the get-go. 

The wraparound story includes the movie's pint-sized mascot named Sam, who wears a sack and a button mask as he trots around the town of Warren Valley ensuring that its citizens are behaving. Elsewhere folks are stalked by werewolves, slashers, and ghosts in a fun mix of segments starring the likes of Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker and Brian Cox. This is the perfect start to the spooky season. 

New Life (2024)

When: September 1 Where to stream it: Amazon's Prime Video (US, AU); Netflix (UK)

Everyone likes a good surprise when it comes to their horror and this directorial debut effort from filmmaker John Rosman is one of them. A confronting, quite emotionally-packed movie, New Life opens with Jess (Hayley Erin) a bloodied youngster tearing north through Portland in the hopes of reaching Canada. 

Why is she running? What is she fleeing? While those questions are answered in due time, we meet Elsa (Sonya Wagner), a veteran agent tasked with pursuing Jess for reasons unknown. To say more about this sci-fi horror would be to spoil the rewards within, but this one is highly recommended if you like character-driven stories.  

Watcher (2022)

When: September 6 Where to stream it: Shudder, Hulu (US); Netflix (UK); Prime Video (AU)

Look, there is never a wrong time to rewatch Maika Monroe's filmography but if the recent release of Longlegs – which is one of seven new horror movies I previously recommended to stream in July – is what prompted yours, then you're in luck because 2022's Watcher is here to become one of the best Shudder movies . 

Monroe stars as Julia, an actress who moves with her boyfriend Francis (Karl Glusman) to Bucharest and soon finds herself pondering the strange man across the street watching her through the windows. After she starts to spot the stranger out in the world, she worries he may be the serial killer police have dubbed 'The Spider'. Monroe is compelling and sympathetic, a fearless lead whose attempts to raise concern are shrugged off by those around her. A beautiful slow-burn from writer-director Chloe Okuno with a knockout ending that'll probably have you shouting at the screen. 

In a Violent Nature (2024)

When: September 13 Where to stream it: Shudder (AU, UK, US)

Imagine Friday the 13th but from Jason’s perspective. No, no, not in an empathetic "oh no, I can't get my machete to really gleam" but more in his literal experience. In A Violent Nature approaches the “serial killer who returns from the grave” shtick in that vein, opting to lurch instead of run as the film follows killer Johnny after two clueless college kids rouse his dormant corpse. 

This unique spin on the tried and true camp slasher tosses aside convention, with writer-director Chris Nash citing the works of Gus Van Sant as pace and mood inspiration. That’s not to say nothing happens – this is one helluva gory, stomach-churning horror that you probably want to watch without snacks. But the piece de resistance is its final, nerve-shredding five minutes. No wonder a sequel is in development.

Handling the Undead (2024)

When: September 17 Where to stream it: Hulu (US); Prime Video (UK, AU)

This has snuck onto the release schedule with little fanfare, which is unusual considering the success of the author's sombre vampire tome, Let the Right One In . Handling the Undead adapts John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel of the same name – with Lindqvist sharing scripting duties – and tells a similarly low-key genre tale. 

Directed by Thea Hvistendahl, the film unravels on a baking hot summer day in Oslo and follows three families as their long-gone loved ones return to them from beyond the grave. This isn't a showy, gory zombie affair, but instead a slow, tragic examination of grief and how we handle loss that lands with an emotional wallop. Worth the journey even though it may sting once the credits finally roll. 

I Saw the TV Glow (2024) 

When: September 20 Where to stream it: Max (US); Prime Video (AU) 

Jane Schoenbrun follows We're All Going To The World's Fair with this knockout sophomore effort. A surreal dreamscape story telling a deeper tale of gender identity, friendship, and finding our place in the world, I Saw The TV Glow rightly earned critical acclaim upon initial release. 

On the surface, it revolves around two classmates who bond over a TV show. Justice Smith plays Owen who is introduced to the world of underground teen series 'The Pink Opaque' by his classmate Maddy, played by Brigette Lundy-Paine. As the pair connect, the film explores their experiences as transitioning teens through Schoenbrun's signature visuals; a surreal dreamworld that's both beautiful and harrowing. 

Apartment 7a (2024)

When: September 27 (US), September 28 (AU, UK) Where to stream it: Paramount Plus (AU, UK, US) 

In an era where sequels to 1970s classics like The Exorcist and The Omen are all but guaranteed on the release docket, it can be hard to tell what's likely to rise above straight-to-video dirge. Luckily, Apartment 7a boasts a stellar cast and a creative team that's poised to make this return to the world of demonic offspring worth the watch. 

Natalie Erika James, who directed the superior Relic , is on scripting duties and behind the camera on this prequel to Rosemary's Baby. Set in the very same building years earlier, the story follows Julia Garner's character Terry, a dancer who befriends a couple in her building. Yes, it's the Castevets, except this time they're played by Dianne Wiest (!!) and Kevin McNally. 

Oddity (2024)

When: September 27 Where to stream it: Shudder (AU, UK, US)

Following its premiere at South by Southwest in March, Oddity has emerged as one of the year's most talked-about horror hits due to, well… how damn scary it is. If you've seen director Damian McCarthy's seriously creepy debut Caveat, then that should come as no surprise. While we've no possessed bunny toys this time around, do we have something potentially worse? 

The movie follows Darcy, played by Carolyn Bracken, a blind clairvoyant grieving the death of her sister who was brutally murdered. A year later she pays a visit to her late sister's husband and his new partner, bringing with her a life-size wooden mannequin from her curio shop. Horrors abound and you might need a cushion or two to hide behind. 

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Gem Seddon is a Seattle-based freelance entertainment writer with bylines at Vulture, Digital Spy, TechRadar, GamesRadar+, Total Film, What to Watch, and Certified Forgotten. Librarian by day, scribbler by night, Gem loves 90-minute movies, time travel romance, single-camera comedy shows, all things queer, all things horror, and queer horror. Alien and Scream are tied as her all-time favourite movie. She won't stop raving about Better Things. 

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Netflix’s ‘perfect couple’ trailer serves up wealth, death and nicole kidman.

The limited series based on Elin Hilderbrand's novel premieres Sept. 5.

By Rick Porter

Rick Porter

Television Writer

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An opulent coastal setting, a dead body, a bunch of quick shots of police interrogations, and Nicole Kidman . It’s not Big Little Lies season three — it’s The Perfect Couple , the star-studded Netflix limited series that has released a full trailer just a couple of days ahead of its Sept. 5 premiere date.

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The trailer features numerous shots talking to the investigators in an interrogation room, shades of the first season of Big Little Lies (which also starred Kidman). It also leans into a guilty-pleasure vibe with an ironic soundtrack of “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” and title cards inviting viewers to “devour the most delicious, indulgent, shocking show on TV.”

The show’s cast also features Dakota Fanning , Jack Reynor, Ishaan Khatter, Meghann Fahy , Sam Nivola, Mia Isaac and Isabelle Adjani.

The Perfect Couple is based on a best-selling novel by Elin Hilderbrand; Jenna Lamia ( Good Girls, Awkward ) adapted the novel and serves as showrunner. Lamia executive produces with director Susanne Bier ( The Night Agent, The Undoing ), Hilderbrand, Shawn Levy of 21 Laps Entertainment, Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady of The Jackal Group, Kidman and Per Saari of Blossom Films, and Josh Barry.

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‘Reagan’ Review: The Gipper Takes on Moscow

In this unabashed love letter to former president Ronald Reagan, Dennis Quaid fights the Cold War with conviction.

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By Glenn Kenny

In his long career, Dennis Quaid has sometimes played politicians. He’s been former President Bill Clinton (“The Special Relationship”) and was the president in the musical comedy “American Dreamz” with Hugh Grant and Willem Dafoe. Now, in “Reagan,” Quaid portrays former President Ronald Reagan with, if not brilliance, at least evident conviction. Time truly holds surprises for all of us.

The movie, directed by Sean McNamara from a screenplay by Howard Klausner, opens with Quaid as the 40th president leaving a speech site and walking right into an assassination attempt. The picture then moves to present-day Moscow. Jon Voight plays Viktor Petrovich, a retired K.G.B. agent with an accent straight out of “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” who narrates the story of Reagan to a younger functionary. And so we shift back to the 1980s, and then back to Reagan’s early years in radio and Hollywood. (Mena Suvari plays Reagan’s first wife, Jane Wyman, and Penelope Ann Miller is Nancy.)

In the first eight minutes, the movie makes as many temporal shifts as a 1960s Alain Resnais work, albeit quite less gracefully.

Why is Reagan’s story relayed by a K.G.B. guy? Because in this unabashed love letter to the former president, Reagan was the force behind the fall of the Soviet Union. The movie implies that this “evil empire” collapsed as a result not just of his presidency, but of his anti-Communist activism during his entertainment career in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. These eras are depicted in scenes strongly suggesting that before shooting, the cinematographer, Christian Sebaldt, happened upon a fire sale on diffusion filters at the camera store.

The cast is dotted with cameos from the actors Lesley-Anne Down and Kevin Dillon; the prominent Hollywood conservatives Kevin Sorbo and Robert Davi also appear as seals of approval, one infers. It all makes for a plodding film, more curious than compelling.

Reagan Not rated. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes. In theaters.