History Film / Unfaithful

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/FatalAttraction''. They share a director, even. Given that it's the wife who cheats this time, it could also be considered a GenderFlip.

* PlayingGertrude: The film features a then-37-year-old Diane Lane as a housewife having an affair with a younger man (her infuriated husband is shocked to see how young the guy is and later blasts her for throwing their life away "for a fucking kid!") The "younger" man was played by the then-''36'' year old Olivier Martinez.

* YourCheatingHeart: The entire plot is about Connie's affair with Paul and its effect on her marriage with Edward. When the cops come to question Connie about Paul, they mention [[spoiler: "his wife hasn't heard from him", thus revealing that he was cheating too]].

* TapOnTheHead: Played realistically, for once. [[spoiler: Edward bashes Paul over the head with the snowglobe that Connie gave him. There's a lull for several seconds as the stunned Paul simply stares at him... and then blood starts pouring down his face and he collapses, revealing that Paul has fatally injured him]].

* AccidentalMurder: Edward bashes Paul's head in a blind rage, but judging from his horrified reaction, he didn't mean to kill him.

* BolivianArmyEnding: The movie ends with Edward and Connie embracing and weeping in their car, stopped at a stop light that has clearly turned green, in front of a police station. Will Edward turn himself in? Will they go on the run as she half-seriously suggested? Will they try to return to a normal life with his crime and the fear of being caught forever hanging over their heads?

* HappilyMarried: Downplayed with Connie and Edward. While certainly loving, there's just enough hints that their marriage has fallen into a routine that any decade-long relationship might.

* {{Irony}}: Edward hears a message from Connie to Paul, ending their affair--''right after he's killed him.'' Even worse, we never once see an instance where Connie is tempted to call or visit him again, making Edward's actions truly pointless.

* RageBreakingPoint: Edward is remarkably calm, even friendly, when confronting Paul, but seeing one of the snow globes that he gave Connie as a present on Paul's desk is this for him, as it finally hits home how much she has disrespected their marriage. It's at this moment that he takes the globe and bashes Paul's head in using it.
* StepfordSmiler: Despite now knowing that her husband knew about her affair and killed her lover, Connie plays dutiful hostess to her dinner guests.

* TapOnTheHead: Played realistically, for once. Edward bashes Paul over the head with the snowglobe that Connie gave him. There's a lull for several seconds as the stunned Paul simply stares at him... and then blood starts pouring down his face and he collapses, revealing that Paul has fatally injured him.

* WhamShot: As one of their dinner guests admires the various knick-knacks Edward and Connie have, she sees the snow globe she gave Paul back in it's rightful place. Cue her stunned look as she realizes that not only did Edward know about the affair, he killed Paul.
* YourCheatingHeart: The entire plot is about Connie's affair with Paul and its effect on her marriage with Edward. When the cops come to question Connie about Paul, they mention "his wife hasn't heard from him", thus revealing that he was cheating too.

* HappilyMarried: Downplayed with Connie and Paul. While certainly loving, there's just enough hints that their marriage has fallen into a routine that any decade-long relationship might.

* RageBreakingPoint: Edward is remarkably calm, even friendly, when confronting Paul, but seeing one of the snow globes that he gave Connie as a present on Paul's desk is this for him, as it finally hits home how much she has disrespected their marriage. It's at this moment that he takes the globe and bashes Paul's head in.

* StepfordSuburbia: Downplayed. Edward and Connie aren't miserable, but she clearly enjoys the excitement that the affair brings.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When she meets two friends for coffee and they spot Paul and begin gushing about him, one woman warns that an affair will only end badly. Sure enough, this one does.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Connie flips out upon seeing Paul laughing and walking with another girl, even though she's cheating on her husband. He calls her out on this.
---> '''Paul''': "''Me?'' ''I'm'' the liar?"
** [[spoiler: Of course, with the revelation that Paul himself is married, he's a hypocrite too.]]

* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Edward ends up killing Paul.]]

* RageBreakingPoint: Edward is remarkably calm, even friendly, when confronting Paul, but seeing one of the snow globes that he gave Connie as a present on Paul's desk is this for him, as it finally hits home how much she has disrespected their marriage. It's at this moment that he takes the globe and bashes his head in.

* TapOnTheHead: Played realistically, for once. Edward bashes Paul over the head with the snowglobe that Connie gave him. There's a lull for several seconds as the stunned Paul simply stares at him. . . and then blood starts pouring down his face and he collapses, revealing that Paul has fatally injured him.

* YourCheatingHeart: The entire plot is about Connie's affair with Paul and its effect on her marriage with Edward.
** When the cops come to question Connie about Paul, they mention "his wife hasn't heard from him", thus revealing that he was cheating too.

* {{Irony}}: Edward hears a message from Connie to Paul, ending their affair--''right after he's killed him.''

* RageBreakingPoint: Edward is remarkably calm, even friendly, when confronting Paul, but seeing one of the snow globes that he gave Connie as a present on Paul's desk is this for him, as it finally hits home how much she has disrespected their marriage.

* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: A borderline case occurs when Connie and Paul's affair begins; Connie is walking out on Paul to stop her affections from developing further. Paul angrily chases her out of his apartment, slams her against the wall, and starts forcibly kissing and groping her. She struggles at first, then quickly submits to her desires.

* ForWantOfANail: While burning the private detectives pictures of her and Paul, Connie flashes back to when they met, only this time, she gets into a cab instead of going up to his apartment. Clearly, given how disastrously everything has turned out, she wishes that she'd done this.

* CarpetRolledCorpse: [[spoiler:Edwards ends up doing this to Paul, his wife's lover, after accidentally killing him.]]
* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Edwards ends up killing his wife's lover.]]
* NeverendingTerror: [[spoiler:After Connie learns that her husband killed her lover, she feels guilty about her infidelity and helps her husband cover up the crime. The ending scene has the two of them both break down crying as they pass a police station, the implication being that it's because they know they'll be living in fear of being caught for the rest of their lives.]]

* PlayingGertrude: The film features a then-37-year-old Diane Lane as a housewife having an affair with a younger man (her infuriated husband is shocked to see how young the guy is and later blasts her for throwing their life away "for a fucking kid!") The "younger" man was played by the then-''36'' year old Oliver Martinez.