Unfaithful (2002)

Unfaithful is a 2002 American thriller drama film directed and produced by Adrian Lyne and starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Olivier Martinez, Erik Per Sullivan, Chad Lowe, and Dominic Chianese. It was adapted by Alvin Sargent and William Broyles Jr. from the 1969 French film The Unfaithful Wife (La Femme infidèle). It tells the story of a couple living in suburban New York City whose marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous affair with a stranger she encounters by chance. The film was remade in India under the title Murder (2004), starring Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat.^[1]

Unfaithful grossed $52 million in North America and $119,137,784 worldwide. Despite mixed reviews overall, Lane received much praise for her performance. She won awards for Best Actress from the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Edward and Connie Sumner live in Westchester County, New York with their eight-year-old son, Charlie. Their marriage is loving but a little monotonous and lacking in passion. While shopping, Connie runs into stranger Paul Martel and scrapes her knees, accepting Paul's offer to treat her injuries at his Soho apartment. Uncomfortable with his advances, she leaves.

Finding Paul's phone number inside the book he gave her, Connie calls him and is invited over. Paul again flirts with her. She leaves despite their mutual attraction, but visits again, and they share a dance. Connie soon leaves for home. When she returns to retrieve her coat, Paul literally sweeps her off her feet, carries her off to his bedroom, and they have sex. Both thrilled and guilty, Connie uses her work as an excuse to continue visiting Paul, raising Edward's suspicion. Noticing Connie readying herself with new shoes and lingerie, Edward asks her to meet him for lunch, but she says she has a salon appointment. Edward calls the salon and confirms Connie was lying.

Edward is devastated when a private investigator, Frank Wilson, provides pictures of Connie and Paul together. As Connie's visits become more frequent, she is late to pick up Charlie from school and realizes she can no longer carry on the affair. She decides to end things in person and the following day she does some errands. As Connie completes her grocery shopping errand, she drives to Paul's home to break off the news but notices him running off to the library with another woman. She jumps out of her car and runs to the library to confront Paul and the other woman. As she is in the elevator alone with Paul, she asks him how many women is he seeing but Paul denies to engage with the question and tells Connie that the woman is just a friend and nothing more. She then tells Paul that she hates him and doesn't want to see him anymore and makes it clear that their affair is over. However, as she angrily storms out of Paul's apartment, he manages to chase and capture Connie. She then tries to stop and push Paul away but is unsuccessful and they end up having erotic sex in the hallway of his apartment. She leaves, narrowly missing Edward, who confronts Paul. Paul lets him into his apartment. As they discuss Connie, Edward is stunned to find a snow globe he had given her, which Paul explains she had gifted to him. Edward snaps and fractures Paul's skull with the snow globe, killing him instantly.

Cleaning up evidence, Edward hears Connie leave a message for Paul, saying she must end their affair. He erases the message and later dumps Paul's body in a landfill but is plagued by memories of the murder. NYPD detectives arrive at the Sumner home, explaining that Paul's estranged wife has reported him missing. Connie claims she barely knows him, and the detectives return a week later to reveal that Paul's body has been discovered. Connie lies that she met Paul at a fundraiser which, to her surprise, Edward corroborates. Later, she finds the photos of her and Paul, realizing Edward knew about the affair. She also notices that the snow globe has been returned to their collection. Sharing a meaningful look with Edward, she realizes he murdered Paul.

They argue, and Edward says that he wanted to kill her instead of Paul. In the days that follow, Connie discovers a hidden compartment in the snow globe containing a photograph of her, Edward, and an infant Charlie, with a loving anniversary message. As she burns the photographs of her and Paul, Edward says he will turn himself in, but Connie objects, saying they will find a way to move on, and they appear to return to a normal life together.

One night, Edward stops at a red light with Charlie asleep in the backseat. Connie whispers that they could leave the country and assume new identities, and Edward agrees, consoling her as she cries. It is revealed that Edward has stopped the car near a police station. The film is based on the french film la femme infidele by claude chabrol from 1969