Best Infidelity
La Puce à l'oreille (A Flea in Her Ear) is a French vaudeville farce written by Georges Feydeau in 1907. The plot centers on a woman who sets up a rendezvous at a disreputable Parisian hotel to test her husband's fidelity, which leads to a complex sequence of mistaken identities. The play is a promi...
Why this score?
Feydeau masterwork and global farce benchmark; exceptional construction, revivals, and critical esteem.
Scoring methodology
Betrayal is a 1978 play by British dramatist Harold Pinter about an extramarital relationship involving literary agent Jerry, gallery owner Emma, and her husband Robert, a publisher and Jerry's close friend. Most of the action moves backward from the affair's aftermath toward its beginning, allowing...
Why this score?
Highly regarded Pinter work, famous reverse structure and emotional restraint; cooler than his most menacing plays.
Scoring methodology
Le Dindon (The Turkey, also translated as Sauce for the Goose) is a three-act farce by Georges Feydeau that premiered at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris in 1896. The play follows multiple characters caught in escalating schemes of marital infidelity, with plots involving mistaken identities, di...
Why this score?
One of Feydeau's major farces, fast and intricate; strong critical and repertory standing.
Scoring methodology
*Monsieur Chasse!* is a French vaudeville farce by Georges Feydeau, first performed in 1892 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The plot centers on a husband who uses a hunting trip as a pretext for an extramarital affair while his wife pursues a liaison of her own, leading to overlapping rende...
Why this score?
Major Feydeau bedroom farce with expert mechanics and frequent revivals; strong consensus reputation.
Scoring methodology
Match Point is a 2005 psychological thriller written and directed by Woody Allen and set largely in London. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays a former tennis professional who enters a wealthy family but begins an affair that threatens his new position, leading him to murder. The film uses opera extensively...
Why this score?
Widely praised as a late-career resurgence, with strong performances, moral tension, and elegant plotting; emotional coldness divides some viewers.
Scoring methodology
The Ice Storm is a 1997 drama film based on Rick Moody’s novel. Set in 1973, the story depicts two suburban families grappling with emotional disconnection and resorting to infidelity amidst a Thanksgiving weekend. Featuring an ensemble cast including Kevin Kline and Joan Allen, the film was produce...
Created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi, The Affair is an American television drama that aired on Showtime from 2014 to 2019. The series explores the emotional and psychological effects of an extramarital relationship between a novelist and a young waitress in Montauk, New York. It is structurally dis...
Why this score?
Early acclaim centered on performances and conflicting-perspective structure; prolonged plotting, cast departures, and declining later seasons weakened its reputation.
Scoring methodology
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is a 2006 Indian romantic drama set in New York City. Featuring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, the film examines themes of marital infidelity and relationship dysfunction. It represented a shift in director Karan Johar’s previous work towards a...
Sexual Malice is a 1994 American erotic thriller directed by Jag Mundhra and written by Mundhra and Carl Austin. Also known as The Other Man, it follows Christine, a married woman who begins an affair with Quinn, a mysterious male stripper; the relationship develops into obsession, murder, and decei...
Deadly Illusions is a 2021 American erotic thriller written and directed by Anna Elizabeth James. Kristin Davis plays Mary Morrison, a bestselling novelist with writer's block who hires Grace, played by Greer Grammer, to care for her twin children while she writes. As Mary's relationship with the na...
Why this score?
Overwhelmingly negative reviews and low audience ratings cite incoherent plotting, implausible behavior, and campy execution despite substantial streaming attention.
Scoring methodology
