Entertainment

Netflix’s Fair Play Is One Insanity On Top Of Other Insanities

Spoilers Ahead! If you haven’t seen Netflix’s Fair Play yet, bookmark this article and come back when you have.

• written by Joy Onu
• 8 min read
• 20 Oct, 2023

Fair Play on Netflix is truly a whole bag of insanities, from how it begins to the way it ends, there’s an endless list of shocking moments that will have you gasping for air the whole time. If you’ve seen Fair Play already, you know exactly what I mean.

If your jaw didn’t drop by the very last scene of Netflix’s Fair Play, I don't know what you’re on because it was beyond insane, but first, let’s start from the very beginning. We meet Emily and Luke who are clearly obsessed with each other, not going to lie. At the beginning of the movie I thought it would be a regular romantic movie with a cliche ending to it, but boy was I shocked as the story progressed.

Anyways, enough of that, let’s break down the most shocking parts of Fair Play, one insanity after the other.

Insanity #1 Toxic Masculinity Is Crazy

You would think that Netflix’s Fair Play is an exaggeration because it is a film, but don’t forget that films mirror real life, and there’s men like Luke who get threatened when their women do much better than them.

God forbid a woman you love actually is talented and powerful. The funny thing is, you never know which man could be Luke, it isn’t written on their foreheads but the trick is to find a man that is just kind to his very core. Luke went from a loving man to a crazy-psycho-jealous manipulative man in a second, all because Emily got a promotion he thought would be his. 

The moment he starts to equate her success to her being a shiny play thing the boss wants to have, that’s when you get even more infuriated, this is a woman who is clearly ten times better at the job than he is, yet at every turn he finds the most toxic ways to discredit her success.

Insanity #2 The Rape Scene

This scene will break you, after a very gruesome fight between Luke and Emily at their engagement party, after he had publicly outed their relationship at work and humiliated her, they decided to play into their ‘makeup sex’ routine in a public restroom, which to me is like the worst thing ever invented on this planet. It was just horrible to watch, it was violent and brutal, and then it got even worse as he slammed her head against the sink or counter, or whatever it was.

Emily was vocal about how much he was hurting her, she asked him to stop, and he didn’t. After it was all over, she quietly walked out and walked home. This scene brings up quite a sensitive topic of discussion, it’s crazy that several scenes later, Luke would act so shocked when Emily points out that he raped her when he clearly did. It just goes to show that some people still think there are blurred lines in relationships, you’re not entitled to anyone because you’re in a relationship with them, a no is still a no!

Insanity #3 Emily’s Love For Luke

All I can say is, Emily is a much better person than I am, because Luke disrespected her time and time again from the very moment she got that promotion over him. At first, you would feel sorry for him, of course he thought he would get promoted and he didn’t, he starts to act out with his little emotional tantrums and that’s when you realize that this man isn’t the same man we saw at the start of the film.

He has been swallowed by rage, it shows in his eyes and even the way he speaks to Emily, and it’s crazy. It's even crazier that Emily took every insult and every outburst on the chin, she didn’t lose her mind over it, in fact she was still trying to find ways to remedy the situation by getting him another promotion.

Insanity #4 The Double Standards

The double standards in this film are glaring, there are so many instances where you would say 'but if Emily was a man, this wouldn’t be happening’. At first when Emily thinks Luke is going to get the promotion, she’s more than elated for him, there’s no pang of jealousy in sight, but the moment she gets the promotion instead, he recoils and becomes a whole new person, and all of a sudden he begins to suggest all sorts of demeaning reasons why she got the promotion over him.

It gets even worse, in order for Emily to survive in a workplace that is absolutely conditioned for men by men, she goes out for late night drinks with the guys from work and partakes in their normal albeit weird afterwork fun activities. Luke is seemingly enraged by this, which would be fair enough if it was solely because his woman is out with men at odd hours, but that isn’t the case, he’s enraged because that’s supposed to be him doing all the partying, not her. Suddenly he begins to equate her behavior to using her body to get what she wants and throwing herself on men.

Insanity #5 Luke Kneeling and Begging For a Chance

As if Luke couldn’t get more cringe, he decides it would be a good idea to beg the head of the company, Campbell, for a promotion or a chance to show his worth. I don’t know how Emily didn't get the ick watching that man beg on his knees, literally. 

That scene is unfortunately embedded in my mind for a while, let’s not dwell on it. While I could find reasons to empathize with Luke in that scene, I mean who doesn’t deserve a chance, I just couldn’t fathom just how much he had lost his mind in such a short amount of time.

Insanity #6 Emily Taking The Power Back

Above all insanities, this has to be the best one. The moment Emily makes Luke go down on his knees, the moment she makes him admit he did in fact rape her, the moment she finally woke up and fought back.

Luke decided he’s done with the relationship and he already has his bags packed to leave, he begins giving her a speech like everything was normal and as though he hadn’t just put her through the worst time of her life, in a moment of pure rage, Emily loses it she grabs a knife and begins to unleash all her fury on him. 

There’s parts of this scene that i found hard to watch, because violence is just never the answer, but in an ironic way, I did find Emily getting back her power a little bit heroic, she didn’t let him gaslight her on his way out, and she didn’t let him get away with all the damage he had done.