For the first hour and a half or so of Fair Play, you’re probably going to wonder where the filmmaker is going with all this — in a good way.

The newly released drama which, at this writing is the number-one film in the U.S. on Netflix, effectively draws you in to the high-pressure, high-finance Wall Street world inhabited by smarmy, ladder-climbing Ivy League educated careerists with an affinity for alcohol.

Parenthetically, Fair Play might also serve to remind parents to send their kids to other colleges instead of those once-prestigious institutions.

The Netflix tagline for Fair Play, written and directed by Chloe Domont, is as follows:

“An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a couple’s romance to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement.”

Warning: Some spoilers follow

Phoebe Dynevor (Emily) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) work together as financial analysts at the aforementioned hedge fund and have concealed the fact that they are dating because it violates company policy.

Whether that is even realistic in 2023 is another matter, especially when they are constantly out and about publicly, but the relationship of these self-centered characters starts to go south when Emily gets promoted to portfolio manager after her predecessor goes bananas in the office.

It gets worse when Emily is unable to orchestrate an equivalent in-house promotion for her boyfriend.

Thus, Fair Play, which had a brief theatrical run, is yet another girlboss movie, which seems to be the almost-mandatory admission ticket for content reaching the Netflix streaming platform.

[Note: This review may be updated or expanded.]

In any event, the audience learns that the duo are keeping their relationship under wraps in a very clever reveal.

Also, a sequence where they have to implement a risky stock-trading strategy to cover a huge loss is tension filed.

Although neither of their on-screen characters are sympathetic, Dynevor and Ehrenreich certainly earned their salaries with all the emoting that includes yelling and screaming, crying, getting busy, and one disturbing incident of sexual violence.

Veteran actor Eddie Marsan delivers also delivers a strong performance as Campbell, the hedge fund boss with the death stare, although he doesn’t get a lot of actual dialogue. Rich Sommer of Mad Men fame has a supporting role as one of Campbell’s lieutenants.

You have to wonder that in the corporate corporate environment obsessed with diversity, equity, and inclusion, could a boss get away with browbeating a female employee as a “dumb f—-ing bitch”? According to Fair Play, the answer is yes.

Moreover, while the script makes it clear that Emily advanced based on merit, the diversity trend is only tangentially alluded to, but it might have added a further dimension to the dynamic.

Interpersonal problems become more acute at the trading desk when Emily becomes Luke’s supervisor (which definitely a workplace no-no) owing to the promotion.

Unfortunately, the extensive use of the F-bomb, as in some many other movies and shows, is an unimpressive proxy for lazy writing.

More unfortunately, as alluded to above, Fair Play goes foul in approximately the last third of its running time, and the final 15 minutes or so is almost unbearable to watch.

Unhinged Luke both goes crazy and becomes cucked in the end, and you have to perhaps wonder why the actor agreed to accept such an emasculated role.

In the real world, whether someone in Luke’s position would become so unglued out of professional jealousy is a big question mark.

Fair Play, which Netflix mislabels as a “thriller,” is receiving high marks from movie critics though (which is often a red flag) apparently because of its perceived condemnation of toxic masculinity or related misconduct.

And the movie would apparently have us believe that it seems to be okay for Emily to brazenly lie to the boss about her relationship with Luke (and get away with it) and that it’s okay to stab a dude with a knife with no repercussions.

Another plot point that makes no sense is the insistence by Emily’s mother to schedule an engagement party for the lovers when it is profoundly vital to their careers to keep their relationship secret.

And in the context of the movie, it’s really important to stay out of public restrooms if Emily and Luke are anywhere nearby.

Again, Fair Play, which was filmed in Serbia (ironically) for financial reasons even with its New York City stock market fictional backdrop, merits a for roughly two-thirds of its content, but a for its wholly unsatisfactory, disappointing conclusion