Film Review

Fair Play (2023) — a tense thriller exploring power dynamics and gender roles

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.

Power dynamics, specifically within corporate frameworks, have steadily become ripe subject material for filmmakers looking to make a mark in mainstream media. Whether that be through examinations of corporate harassment — as seen in The Assistant (2019) and She Said (2022), HBO’s hugely successful drama Succession, or searing social critiques such as Dark Waters (2019) — corporate environments have become battlegrounds for the mind, fraught with constant tension. The endless array of moving parts (cutthroat hierarchical competition, the relentless pursuit of profit, an entirely alien set of social norms) also comes loaded with dramatic intrigue, begging filmmakers to make good use of the powder-keg paranoia and viciousness boiling within every cog in the machine.