Chloe Domont’s erotic thrillerFair Playis already receiving a fair amount ofpositive notice from critics, and that positivity reaches beyond what’s written into audiences. For the director, the buzzy nature of responses to her film — which starsPhoebe DyvenorandAlden Ehrenreichas a couple whose professional competition leads to cutthroat behavior and sparks flying everywhere — have been as exciting as making the picture itself.
Speaking in conversation with Collider’sSteve Weintraubto promote the film, Domont gave a look behind the curtain at the immediate reactions to the film that she experienced when leaving screenings, confessing her unparalleled delight at hearing the responses from viewers described as “shook.” And not just from younger audiences, but all across various spectrums which was surprising to the director.
“I mean, so far, with all the screenings we’ve done, it’s been incredibly exciting and buzzy.You see people shook, visibly shook by it. You see people kind of opening up,” said Domont.
“It was interesting, I actually had a screening last week where I walked outside the theater, and there was a group of men in their sixties standing in a circle, just opening up about the way that they were raised and talking abouttheir marriages and their divorces. I’d never seen a group of men, especially in that age, feel comfortable enough to talk to each other, and I thought that was incredibly exciting.”
Helming ‘Fair Play’ Has Been an Incredibly Rewarding Experience
Elaborating further, Domont noted that she was well used to seeing groups of women, or even couples sitting and breaking down the events of what they’d seen, but that she was truly struck by how it was affecting people all across the demographics of those who had seen the film, which, to her, was a sure sign that the film was having not just the desired impact, but perhaps something even deeper and more meaningful than what was initially designed on the surface. She explained:
“I’ve come out of many screenings and seen women talking, or couples converse, or men and women, but I’ve never seen a group of men. It felt like this movie unlocked something that they had been holding, and they felt okay to talk about, and I felt like that was incredibly rewarding.”
Fair Playis already playing in select theaters having opened on September 29 and will make its global premiere on Netflix on June 16, 2025.
