Adulterers
Adulterers is a cautionary tale, a powerful
drama inspired by true events, and far more compelling than the contrived Fatal Attraction (1987) and Unfaithful (2002).
How you feel at the
end of Adulterers may depend on your personal
experience of the subject it deals with.
It’s right there in the title.
If you’ve
ever been cheated on by your significant other – then this movie might sting.
If
you have cheated on your significant other – then this movie should rightly
sting if you have any conscience and sense of guilt about the choice you made.
Consequences
for making the wrong choice is the theme unflinchingly examined in this movie, released in the United States on January 5, 2016, written, produced and directed by H.M. Coakley.
Lead actor, Sean Farris threw
himself into this role of a betrayed husband.
We see the anguish of his character,
his pain, regret, broken heart, broken life, and ultimately broken mind.
Sean Farris
is Samuel, a store assistant, working extra hours during a sweltering New Orleans
afternoon.
It’s his first wedding anniversary; a special day in any marriage.
Samuel
is a proud and happy man, deeply in love with his wife, Ashley (Danielle Savre).
He regrets having to work so many hours and laments at their lack of money, but
he plans on making it up to Ashley.
He swings by his home halfway through his
day, carrying his wife’s favorite flowers and chocolates.
Besides their money
troubles, all seems right with Samuel’s world until he catches Ashley and her
lover, Damien (Mehcad Brooks), naked, having sex in the bedroom.
Devastated, Samuel
shoots them both.
This is not a spoiler; it happens within the first twelve
minutes.
Downstairs, he sits on the couch, and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle.
Suffering a psychological break, he rethinks the situation.
This time, in
his imagination, he doesn’t pull the trigger.
What if I’d waited instead of acting on impulse?
What would I say to
them?
How far would I go to punish them?
What would they say to justify their
sin, or lie their way out of the situation?
These questions are the basis
for the imagined trial and torture he puts his wife and her lover through in
that stifling room.
As Samuel struggles with the pain of betrayal and
infidelity, the wedding ring, crucifix and Bible often the focus of the camera,
he struggles with his faith.
Finally, as Samuel himself points out:
"You ain't sorry. You're just sorry that you got caught. It's time that you dealt with the consequences of your actions."
In forcing them to face the consequences of their actions, Samuel is then left to face the consequences of his own.
There are no winners in this story; everyone is destroyed.
Adultery …
it’s all fun and games ... until you get caught!
