Behind the Shocking—and Brutal—Ending of 'Fair Play'
This story contains spoilers for Fair Play.
Netflix’s new thriller, Fair Play, is a psychological whirlwind. The film, which was written and directed by Chloe Domont, follows Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich)—a young couple who work for the same finance company. Their relationship begins as a playful office romance, but their relationship changes when Emily receives a coveted promotion.
Over the course of the Fair Play, we see Luke sabotage his partnership with Emily. Luke, who desperately wants to be the breadwinner, begins questioning Emily’s success, causing her to doubt her talent. Meanwhile, Emily, who desperately wants to be respected, excuses her male coworkers' sexist behavior. In an exclusive interview with Esquire, Domont explained that she intended to shine a light on toxic masculinity and reveal how it affects both men and women. “Part of why I wrote the first draft was to sound the alarm,” she said. “To say this is something that we need to be talking about, because this is something we all deal with. If we want to work through it, we have to be able to acknowledge it.”
Fair Play reaches its climax when Luke bursts into a conference room and reveals that he's been sleeping with Emily. Though they’re already engaged, he poses it as an inappropriate relationship in hopes of getting Emily fired. To his surprise, no one at the office seems to care.
Later that evening, Emily confronts Luke at their engagement party. At first, their argument leads to consensual sex—but things take a dark turn when Luke ignores Emily’s pleas to stop. Luke assaults Emily and storms off. The next day, Emily returns to their apartment, only to find Luke sitting in the living room with all of his belongings. He tells her that he’s moving to San Francisco, effectively ending whatever's left of their relationship. Emily demands he apologize for his behavior and take responsibility for the assault, but Luke refuses to admit any wrongdoing.
Then, in a fit of rage, Emily grabs a kitchen knife and slashes Luke’s arm. In the film's closing moments, she hovers over him and once again demands an apology. Finally, Luke breaks down and says, “I’m nothing.” Emily’s response is just as chilling. “Now wipe the blood off my floor, and get out,” she says. “I’m done with you now.” Though obviously brutal, the scene forces Luke to confront his own masculinity and reflect on how he's changed.
While speaking with Esquire, Domont revealed that Fair Play is meant to show how dangerous gender roles can be. “Ultimately, this is a societal and systemic thing that needs to change,” she said. “So many of us want to adhere to a modern, feminist society—but we’re still raised with traditional ideals of masculinity. For the most part, we raise boys to believe that masculinity is an identity when it’s not. It’s an energy. If we can move away from that, if we can break free from these ingrained gender dynamics, then we’ll get past it.”
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