Phoebe Dynevor may be adding another smash success to her resume. The “Bridgerton” star toplines “Fair Play,” a psychological thriller exploring gender dynamics that’s been the toast of Sundance 2023. Variety reports that Chloe Domont’s feature debut just scored a $20 million deal from Netflix out of the fest, making it the second-biggest sale in Park City history. Sian Heder’s “CODA,” which went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, scored a record-breaking $25 million deal at Sundance 2021.
Penned by Domont, “Fair Play” tells the story of a couple (Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich) who work in the world of finance. Their relationship is “put to the test when an unexpected shift in power occurs. This shift exposes true natures, and on a larger level, the unsettling link between female empowerment and male fragility,” Domont told us.
The filmmaker explained, “I wanted to reckon with some unresolved feelings I had from my personal experiences in the past, specifically experiences dating men who were threatened by me in some way. The only way I could cope with that was by making myself small — in a desperate bid to protect those relationships. Over time this response became normal, second nature, every day. I just accepted it and didn’t talk about it because I couldn’t admit that the dynamic was real. It was also confusing and hard to process because these men adored me for the very same things that frightened them,” she revealed. “That’s why I started writing this story — to sound the alarm and to shine a light on something that I believe many of us struggle with, but are too afraid to talk about or even admit.”
Domont’s small screen credits include “Ballers” and “Billions.”
