Unfaithful is a 2002 erotic thriller 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 by Claude Chabrol. It tells the story of a couple living in suburban New York City whose marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an affair with a stranger she encounters by chance.
Unfaithful grossed $52 million in North America and $119.1 million 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.
Plot
Edward and Connie Sumner live in upscale Westchester County, New York with their eight-year-old son, Charlie. Their marriage is loving but monotonous and complacent.
While shopping in SoHo, the wind knocks Connie into stranger Paul Martel, and they fall over. He invites her up to his apartment to treat her scraped knee. After cleaning it, Paul puts an ice pack on her leg, then his hand on hers as she holds it. He introduces himself, and Connie gives her first name only and says she has to go. Paul insists she take a book, pointing out a passage about seizing the moment. Uncomfortable, Connie leaves.
Paul's phone number is inside the book, so she calls him from Penn Central. He invites her over, again flirts, but she leaves. On her third visit, they share a dance and Connie rushes out. She returns to retrieve her coat, Paul literally sweeps her off her feet, and they have sex. Connie is simultaneously turned on and terrified at what she is doing. They both relish the thrill of their affair, and she finds excuses to continue visiting Paul.
Edward becomes suspicious when he catches Connie in a lie. As she's buying herself new lingerie and is increasingly distracted, he later catches her lying about a salon appointment. Edward fires an employee for perceived disloyalty so the employee, who's seen the lovers together, tells Edward to look at his own family. He hires a private investigator and is devastated to see photos of Connie with Paul. The affair makes Connie feel increasingly guilty, but she cannot end it; until one day, she forgets to pick up Charlie from school.
Realizing her wrongdoing, Connie decides to end the affair. She drives to Paul’s home, and prepares to break the news to him. However she spots him with another woman running to the library. From there, she jealously confronts him. With the other woman out of the picture, Connie and Paul have an argument in the elevator. She then questions him about the amount of women he is seeing. Paul contradicts himself, and claims the other woman Connie spotted him with is only a friend. However, Connie quickly sees through the lie. She angrily calls Paul a liar, and mentions their affair is over. Paul then provokes Connie, and she pushes him out of her way, and tells Paul to stay away from her. Once she angrily storms out of his apartment, he sprints, forces himself and starts seducing her. Connie tries resisting his advances and fighting him off, but Paul overpowers her, and she then surrenders herself, and has passionate and erotic sex with him in the hallway.
Connie leaves, narrowly missing Edward, who has arrived to confront Paul. He lets him in, and Edward is stunned to find a snow globe he had given her. Edward snaps, fracturing his skull with it and killing him instantly. While cleaning up the evidence, he overhears Connie's voice message to Paul, ending the affair as she is tired of lying and hurting her family. Edward erases it and puts Paul's body in the trunk of his car, later dumping it in a landfill.
NYPD detectives arrive at the Sumner's, as Connie's number was at Paul's. His estranged wife has reported him missing. Connie is surprised he had a wife, and claims she barely knows him. They return a week later to reveal that Paul's body has been found. Edward and the detectives notice Connie's reaction to the news.
Later, at the dry cleaner's, Connie finds the photos of her and Paul in Edward's clothes. She is distraught as she realizes Edward knows about her infidelity. At a party that night, she finds the snow globe she gifted Paul in their collection. Sharing a meaningful look with Edward, she realizes he may have caused Paul's disappearance.