Fair Play. (L to R) Alden Ehrenreich as Luke and Phoebe Dynevor as Emily in Fair Play. Cr. Sergej Radovic / Courtesy of Netflix
Netflix acquired Fair Play, Chloe Domont’s new thriller that premiered during the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of the year and will be released globally in October 2023. Here’s a roundup of everything you need to know about Fair Play, the new drama starring Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich.
The movie, written and directed by Chloe Domont (Ballers, Billions, Star Trek: Discovery), received many positive reviews from critics. One of them, from Variety, said:
“Fair Play has much to say about the post-#MeToo world and has a lot of fun saying it. It’s one of the rare Sundance films that could totally break through in the real world,”
Director Chloe Domont with stars Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor
Netflix’s Fair Play is produced by T-Street’s Leopold Hughes and Ben LeClaire, Star Thrower Entertainment’s Tim White, Trevor White and Allan Mandelbaum. T-Street’s Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman are the exec producers.
The movie has been one of two major acquisitions Netflix made at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, with the other being Run Rabbit Run. They also debuted two upcoming documentaries at the festival. The movie was among the 99 scripted feature films that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.
According to some sources, Fair Play reportedly cost Netflix $20 million, while others put it somewhere between $15 and $20 million. Fair Play shot in the first few months of 2022.
Here’s everything else we know about Netflix’s Fair Play, starting with the official trailer:
What’s the Netflix release date for Fair Play?
Netflix stated when it first acquired the movie at Sundance that it’d be releasing at some point in 2023.
We then learned in July 2023 that the movie will be making its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2023 and arrive in the Fall.
In a Vanity Fair exclusive preview released on August 8th, they revealed that the movie will be dropping globally on October 13th, 2023.
However, as part of a movie shuffle, Netflix has bought the movie a week earlier:
Fair Play will debut in select theaters on September 29th
The movie will arrive on Netflix globally on October 6th, 2023, notably one week sooner than previously reported.
It notably takes the position of Reptile, which was also moved up a week.
The movie has a runtime of 113 minutes (one hour and 53 minutes).
What’s the plot of Fair Play?
Picture: Netflix
A thriving New York couple, Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Ehrenreich), can’t get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, Luke and Emily must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition.
Here’s the official logline:
“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.”
The movie has been compared to the likes of Fatal Attraction and was described as an erotic thriller, something the director isn’t particularly pleased with.
What are the reviews for Fair Play?
Following its debut at multiple film festivals and Sundance, there are a lot of reviews floating around for the new movie.
On RottenTomatoes, the movie currently resides at 90% from critics based on 82 reviews, with the critical consensus being:
“With assured style that’s at times reminiscent of the best ’90s nail-biting thrillers, Fair Play juxtaposes premarital disharmony with greed and gender politics in the cutthroat finance world.”
Who is cast in Fair Play?
Picture: Netflix
The cast in Netflix’s Fair Play consists of leads Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) and Rich Sommer (The Devil Wears Prada). Additional cast includes Geraldine Somerville, Jim Sturgeon, Sebastian de Souza, Sia Alipour, and more.
Are you looking forward to watching Fair Play on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.