Let’s establish the base of our discussion first. If you got carried away with the movie title and its trailer, you are at dismay. The movie is neither a mystery thriller nor a fair play so to say. However, the movie is a psychological thriller about relationships and nothing fancy. To me, it’s somewhere between a corporate and erotic thriller or both. It touches both the aspects but finishes nothing. So, it’s indeed an unfair play for most movie critics.
The story is about Emily Meyers (played by Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke Edmunds (played by Alden Ehrenreich) working as analysts at a company managing hedge funds. The story takes an unfair turn when the couple undergo a fast transformation to an engagement while keeping their relationship “under the hoods”. We are well aware about the company policies that prohibits relationships among co-workers but when to draw a line is a matter of question here. You either draw a line in your career growth or sabotage your relationship. But, this power couple tried to portray a fair play as dishonest as possible both at the corporate and personal level.
In the first half of the movie, you might get the same confusion that we often see in the beginning of a relationship. The couple looked perfect but started to become disorientated as the story progressed. The change happens when the female lead gets promoted instead of the male lead in the story. And, just when you think that the story might get an interesting twist in with some suspense or mystery, you get the disappointment. The sad aspect is that the moment you understand this, the story starts to shift towards the ideology of feminism. The male character, Luke Edmonds, shows the signs of a male ego just when you think he might make sense somewhere in the plot down the line. The story then becomes solely dependent on the power dynamics between the couple. I’m not sure if Chloe Domont (the creator of the movie) had this idea all along or this gets manifested in the plot during her final cut or analysis.
The final scene is the best aspect of the movie and portrays the change in the attitude of the female lead character Emily Meyers. Though the story could have ended on a decent note, Chloe Domont had a different view of it. The final scene is done in a way showing that Emily finally has overcome the burden in a relationship and wants to put it all out. Luke had pointed out earlier about her weaker aspect of not projecting herself in front of men and this attitude change was indeed a requirement in the plot for highlighting a strong feminist character.
The best thing is that the acting performance is great and indeed somehow makes us dislike the male character while keeping a soft corner for him. The tyranny in the plot presents the same dilemma for the audience that we often see in society. If you feel like watching a decent erotic thriller over a weekend with your counterpart to understand what not to do in a relationship, then do give this movie a try for its tight script and good acting performance.