Sex, Lies, and iPhone Footage

It's rare for me to gasp in a movie theater, but "Fair Play" did the trick. I also audibly groaned--as in, "God, no, don't open that door"--more than once.

Luke and Emily work together at a hedge fund. Secretly, they're dating. A position becomes available--and it's rumored that Luke is in the running. But, in fact, he isn't; after he celebrates (prematurely), he learns that the job has gone to his girlfriend.

Luke and Emily think they can withstand this news--but are they being rational? Luke begins reading self-help--"Habits of Highly Effective People"-ish books--and Emily mocks him. Luke then says, quietly, "People don't take you seriously at the office because you dress like a fucking cupcake."

Emily's social habits become a problem. She joins several male colleagues at a strip club, then tries to "charm" Luke with a tasteless joke she has learned. ("At this one fraternity, the new recruits had to fuck their classmates, and the classmates wore bags over their heads. And this one guy does the deed, and then the bag comes off, and he discovers that he has FUCKED HIS SISTER. He has fucked his own sister!!!!")

What goes around comes around. Perhaps nursing the wound from the "cupcake" remark, Emily finds herself making a disclosure: "Luke, the boss doesn't want you around. You were a pity hire. He thinks you're not cut out for this--and he's just in a war of attrition, he is waiting for you to get the message on your own...."

For two hours, you wonder just how awful this can get--and the answer is both surprising and inevitable. I loved the final scene, I didn't see it coming, and I thought, yes, that makes sense.

Also, one grace note involves Emily's phone conversations with her mother. These scenes almost become "caricature" moments--but I thought they were funny and smart.

And hurray for Alden Ehrenreich, finding a great role! He is an inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vICUPlr3EEI

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