A film that has been on my “To Watch” list for a few weeks now has been the 2023 drama Fair Play. It has been on Netflix and today was the day that I finally got the chance to watch it. This one was quite brutal and turned really ugly.

Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), who work together at a cutthroat hedge fund, were in love and became engaged to be married. Since they worked together, they were going to wait for the perfect time to let people know.

That perfect time did not come as an unexpected promotion at work started to create tension between the two ambitious people.

Watching these two individuals who had been in such a positive place at the beginning of the movie devolve into a brutal, toxic relationship was tough. The couple started slowly, with resentment being forced down, but the anger and frustration was never going to stay hidden and it was obvious to the audience that this engagement was doomed.

Both of our lead actors, Dynevor and Ehrenreich did a spectacular job playing the emotions that they were burying inside of them. As communication broke down, mistrust started filling the emptiness.

This is not a movie I would throw on to have a pick me up. It is most definitely a downer of a story, but it is extremely well told and acted. It is one of those movies that I would admire, but never want to see again.

3.5 stars