Fair Play director Chloe Domont has opened up about the one sex scene in her new film that’s really got people talking.
The erotic thriller follows Emily and Luke – played by Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor and Oppenheimer actor Alden Ehrenreich – whose relationship starts to sour after one of them receives a promotion at the cutthroat hedge fund where they both work.
It’s currently Netflix’s number one film, and one of the most talked about scenes sees the couple dash off to the bathroom for some intimate time during a wedding.
When Luke proceeds to perform oral sex on Emily, the pair spot blood across his mouth and on Emily’s dress, revealing that she’s on her period. The moment is laughed off by the couple before, moments later, a ring falls out of Luke’s pocket and he proposes.
The scene has been praised for addressing taboos of sex and menstruation, with GQ observing: “Luke isn’t disgusted or shocked by Emily’s period, instead, it’s treated like a normal part of their lives”.
Fair Play director Chloe has now shed some light on the scene, explaining during an interview with Elle that the inclusion of blood in the opening moments was intended to foreshadow how the film ends.
According to the magazine, Chloe wanted to epict “the most ridiculous way that a couple could get engaged”, before realising that would be :if they’re covered in blood, basically”.
She explained: “What the blood represents is the violence to come, which is telling the audience, ‘Don’t get too comfortable.’”
The director also hoped Luke’s reaction in the moment could signal that he’s progressive, and make him more sympathetic to viewers early on.
“I wanted to show early on that we as the audience are made to believe that this is a man who’s not threatened by a woman, because he’s literally got her blood on his face,” Chloe recalled. “How could he be threatened by a woman if he has her blood on his face?”
She decided to write it in this way because “it’s not something I had seen before”, noting: “I also liked it because I knew that a man would never write this scene, so that was exciting to me, too. I am here to flip the script, and so that just felt like part of that.”
Leading star Phoebe agreed in a separate interview with Elle, sharing: “When you see a film like this, it really pushes you to want to create more and put more female influence out into the world.
“We as women know these things happen all the time, but why are we not seeing it on our screens?”
Fair Play is available to stream on Netflix now.