Players (2024 film)

Players is a 2024 American romantic comedy film directed by Trish Sie and written by Whit Anderson. It stars Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., Joel Courtney, Augustus Prew, Liza Koshy, Ego Nwodim, Marin Hinkle, and Tom Ellis. It was released by Netflix on February 14, 2024.

Plot
Mack is a 33-year-old sports journalist in New York City who is known for her ‘plays’, complex deceptions to find hook-ups for herself and her friends - best friend Adam, co-worker Brannagan, and his brother Little. While she enjoys her life, she yearns for a more serious relationship. She hopes to find one in Nick, a sophisticated war correspondent who has just joined their newspaper. The two have sex, but Mack is disappointed to find that he only considers her a one-night stand. She convinces Adam to help her ensnare Nick. The foursome research Nick’s habits and preferences, eventually devising a play called ‘The Flurry’.

The plan begins with Mack intentionally running into Nick, but ignoring him, attracting his attention. After finding out that he is going on a third date with another girl, the group - having also recruited the paper’s secretary Ashley - schemes to call his date away with an emergency, allowing Mack to take her place. The two start dating, while Adam begins seeing a new girl, Claire. Nervous about the deal, she convinces Adam to run a play with her at brunch, who reluctantly agrees but cautions her to take the relationship more seriously. While at brunch, Mack and Adam demonstrate their natural chemistry and long history together, making Claire uncomfortable with their closeness.

Mack writes a feature about New Yorkers’ favorite sports memories, asking both Adam and Nick to read a draft. While Adam immediately reads and loves the piece, Nick is slow to get to it while working on his latest manuscript. At a gala event where Nick is receiving a humanitarian award from UNICEF, Mack reveals that Nick has rewritten her piece entirely rather than giving feedback. Adam becomes upset at Nick’s treatment of her and storms off. Mack and Nick fight about the piece that night, where Nick reveals that her job could be in jeopardy in the next round of layoffs at the paper. The two break up, and Mack submits her version of the story, which her editor loves, assigning her to work a Yankees game for the first time.

As the group - minus Adam - celebrates Mack’s success, they see Claire with another man. After confronting her, she reveals that she broke up with Adam after their brunch, unbeknownst to the group. She tells Mack that they broke up because Claire could tell that Adam was in love with Mack; Mack is initially resistant, but eventually admits that she has feelings for him too. Adam avoids contact with Mack, but agrees to help Ashley surprise Little - who she has started dating - with tickets to the game that Mack is working. To Adam’s surprise, he is actually the target of the play: letting Mack confess her love outside the stadium. The two share a kiss before Mack runs off to work the game.

Production
It was reported in March 2021 that Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., and Tom Ellis would star in the film. Players was produced by Marc Platt Productions and Campfire Studios. Filming took place in New York City from July to September 2021.

Release
The film was released by Netflix on February 14, 2024.