Sundance Review: FAIR PLAY is a gripping financial drama that pits a couple against each other

Correctness opens with the very attractive couple, Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), to get engaged. They are obviously madly in love, have a great relationship and share a great apartment. What could go wrong?

We see them deftly going to work the next morning, going their separate ways. But when they show up at the same office, a busy investment firm, we learn they’re secretly dating against company policy and no one can know they’re together, let alone engaged. Soon enough, their fun and sexy secret is jeopardized when a promotion pops up and despite rumors that Luke will get it, the promotion ends up going to Emily, who is now Luke’s boss. Tensions build as Luke becomes insecure and jealous, and Emily’s loyalty to Luke is pitted against her loyalty to her career.

I loved the dynamic that develops between Emily and Luke. It is very similar to movies like Primitive instinct And Disclosure, but with a more contemporary point of view that questions the real meaning of masculinity in this age of feminism and workplace equality. As the story progresses, we learn about the two very different paths Emily and Luke took to end up in the same place, and what happens when Luke’s entitlement and belief in his own exceptionality gets the better of him.

Correctness It could easily have come across as overly serious and preachy, but the voyeuristic focus on Emily and Luke’s relationship is hugely entertaining and easy to watch. It’s dramatic, absurd and sometimes violent. This is definitely not one you will want to miss!

The movie was sold at Sundance to Netflix for $20 million dollars, which is a big deal. It could be the biggest signing of the festival this year.

Sundance’s description reads:

Soon after their re-engagement, burgeoning New York couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can’t get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion to a cutthroat financial firm ensues, the supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to escalate 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.

In her explosive feature debut, the writer-director Chloe Domont weaves a taut psychological thriller, unflinchingly staring at the destructive gender dynamics that pit partners against each other in a world that is transforming faster than the rules can keep up. Dynevor and Ehrenreich deliver commanding performances as a pair whose romance hardens into ruthlessness as the stakes rise higher than even their clients’ volatile fortunes. With razor-sharp precision in his writing and taut cinematography, Correctness unveils the uncomfortable collision between empowerment and ego.