FAIR PLAY Netflix Ending Explained
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00:00 So Fair Play is one of the latest movies to land on Netflix, and it's safe to say that
00:04 this was most definitely an interesting ride. There were moments where I was on the edge of
00:09 my seat, moments where I felt like I had to look away, and there was the overarching theme of
00:14 inferiority amongst couples, and also the balance of where one puts work and the progression in
00:19 their career when compared to their relationships and love. In this video, I'll be breaking down
00:24 the key themes, what the ending meant, and I'll also give my thoughts on the movie.
00:28 So let's get into it. I'm BrainPilot, and here is Fair Play, ending explained.
00:33 Just to let you know, this video will contain spoilers.
00:37 The Meaning of the Movie
00:38 This movie was definitely an interesting one. It was one that was focused on old-fashioned,
00:44 traditional beliefs when it came to marriage and relationship dynamics, but in the modern day.
00:49 This is the viewpoint that the man should be the breadwinner, and if the woman earns more,
00:53 then there's a sense of inferiority that lies within the man. This is something that we saw
00:58 was present between the happy couple which we first laid eyes on, Luke and Emily. The opening
01:03 scene was something which was on the verge of foreshadowing the ending with the blood on the
01:07 dress, and personally, I thought that she was going to end up murdering him, but in the end,
01:11 she didn't. Throughout this movie, we saw the dynamic of the couple take a downward trajectory
01:16 as we saw that Luke was somebody that couldn't handle not earning as much money as his partner,
01:21 and also not being in as high of a position at the company that they both worked for.
01:26 He wanted to be on top in many different ways, especially with getting the PM job,
01:30 and because he wasn't, and because Emily got the job, he couldn't handle it, so much so that he
01:35 started treating her in terrible ways, manipulating her from an emotional perspective, and trying to
01:41 make out like she didn't deserve the job that she worked so hard for. The job that he believed
01:46 was his, even though he was terrible at his job, cost the company millions of dollars,
01:51 and was only there for a favor for the boss, Campbell's friend. As the movie went on,
01:55 we saw that the only sense of power that Luke had in his inferior state was that he knew that he had
02:00 the power to potentially ruin Emily's career. This was by revealing their relationship due to
02:06 it going against the company policy, and he ended up resorting to that when he went into work in an
02:11 intoxicated state and announced to the boardroom that they'd been together for the past couple of
02:15 years, something which humiliated her in front of her peers and also showed that Luke was past the
02:20 point of caring for her and wanting the best for her. He was jealous to the point where he didn't
02:25 care about what happened to her. He was just bitter and inside of his own head. Throughout
02:30 all of this, up until that point, she stood by him, absorbed all of the hateful and hurtful
02:35 comments that he'd so carelessly thrown her way out of spite, and she was still willing to be
02:39 there for him and help him, but that was the final straw. In the climax of this movie, we saw that
02:45 at their engagement party, the couple had an argument, one which went to heights that we
02:50 hadn't previously seen, and there was a really hard scene to watch where Luke ended up assaulting
02:54 Emily. They were being intimate with one another, but when she told him to stop, he carried on and
02:59 ignored her and was hurting her in the process. The sad reality of this scene was that this was
03:05 him asserting that superiority that he felt he deserved and should have had, and it came at the
03:09 expense and suffering of the person he was supposed to care the most about. We saw earlier on in the
03:15 movie that he wasn't able to perform when they were being intimate after she got the promotion.
03:19 Something that he could do before. This was due to feeling as though he was below his partner and
03:25 that he wasn't the dominant one. So in this hard to watch scene, this was him feeling as though he
03:30 had the power. It was disgusting. The aftermath of this scene was a really sad one too. We saw
03:36 the uncomfortableness which was present and the feeling that something horrific had just happened.
03:41 During the next day, with Emily going to Campbell and trying to save her job, we saw him accept what
03:46 she said where she lied about being in a relationship with Luke, and it was implied as if he
03:51 knew that she was lying about Luke being a stalker. I feel that he thought that they were actually in
03:55 a relationship together, but in that specific moment, he valued her work over the trouble that
04:00 was caused. However, we know that with that job comes walking on eggshells and being on a tight
04:06 rope. The moment her performance slips, she will end up like Rory. In the final moments of the
04:11 movie, we saw that Luke returned to the apartment and he said how he was going to be leaving to go
04:16 to San Francisco to stay with his brother and set up his own company. In this moment, we saw that he
04:21 wasn't regretful over what he did, and then we saw a side to Emily that one never could have predicted.
04:27 She picked up a knife and was going at him with it, saying that she wanted him to beg, to cry,
04:32 and to admit that he was nothing. The very thing that he didn't want to be and was masking himself
04:37 with by shunning Emily with all of the negative comments and treatment throughout the movie.
04:42 Once he was on the floor, crying, and had said that he was worthless, we heard the knife drop,
04:47 he had to clean the blood up, and then she said that he could leave, and the movie cut to black.
04:51 An abrupt way for the movie to end, but most definitely the perfect way for it to end.
04:56 Luke would say that Emily was weak, but in reality, he was the weak one. The weak one at work,
05:02 and the weak one in the relationship. Not because he didn't earn as much money, but because he was
05:07 insecure and felt as though he needed to mask his insecurities by hurting the person he was
05:11 supposed to care about most, Emily Wong. She heard him admit that he was nothing, the very thing that
05:17 he made her feel like during their time together, and with that, she was ready to move on.
05:22 My review. This movie far surpassed my expectations of it. I watched the trailer and I thought it
05:28 looked like it could have been interesting, but when I looked back on it, it was better than what
05:32 I thought it would be. There was tension present for the entirety of the movie, and I think that
05:37 from a tonal perspective, it was nailed. Whether it be the tension in the workplace, which was
05:42 symbolic of the pressure and the feeling like you could be fired at any moment, or in the relationship,
05:47 where it was so clear to see that jealousy was present. The inferiority which was felt,
05:52 and also the slow demise of what was happening. That ending scene was one that I thought was
05:57 articulated and delivered so beautifully. Having Luke finish with the way that he was acting,
06:02 and feeling as though he could just up and leave without apologising after trying to throw Emily
06:06 and everything that she had worked for under the bus, showed how little he thought of the situation.
06:12 Having her bring him to his knees and make him face that inferiority that he felt, whilst never
06:17 once mentioning it before in the movie was powerful. The argument when they were in the
06:21 kitchen was symbolic of that entire movie. The inferiority that he kept within and felt was
06:27 vocalised by Emily, and it was incredible to witness when she stood up for herself for the
06:31 first time and he couldn't face it. The scream that she emitted being blended with the train tracks
06:36 as it reverberated around my ears was something that was spintingly chilling. It was quite a hard
06:42 ending to watch because all I could think about was how happy this couple was at the start of the
06:46 movie, and the love that they once had for one another. And it showed that there was a crack in
06:50 their relationship, and it was that Luke couldn't handle not being the breadwinner, and once not on
06:55 equal levels, he couldn't hack it. I thought that in terms of the acting, all of the main cast did a
07:00 great job. The two leads smashed it. I'd say that Phoebe delivered a stronger performance,
07:05 and you could really feel the yearning to be better and the hunger that she had, but also the
07:09 hurt that she was experiencing as the relationship that she once cared so much about became something
07:15 that she didn't even recognise. The transition and the passion of anger and rage that she had
07:20 was so well delivered, and I was very impressed with her. Even though this movie was two hours
07:25 long and had a really intimate cast, it didn't feel like that long. I would say that the time
07:30 flew by when watching it. I'd recommend this movie as it really does focus on the tension
07:35 and the slow burn with the witnessing of a demise of not only the characters, but the flame that was
07:40 once lit between them, and the drive to become better as people and professionals. So, there
07:46 you have it. Fair play, ending explained. If you want to see more videos such as endings explained,
07:52 theories and predictions, and character breakdowns, then click on the "i" button.
07:56 Or alternatively, you can head over to my channel where you'll find them all.
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08:20 in real time. What did you think of this movie? Leave a comment down below, and don't forget to
08:26 subscribe. I'll see you next time. (bell ringing)