(3.5/5)

There’s a certain class of low-budget indie filmmaking that’s become almost its own recognizable style – full of ordinary people just trying to find happiness in unorthodox ways, hand-held close-up shots, montages of locations (easily recognized if you live in the area where they’re shot, but not particularly tied to the story, which could take place anywhere) with light music underneath, a tendency to shift focus amateurishly (though I think often on purpose as part of the style), a lot of contemplative pauses and awkward conversations. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this style in and of itself, but it is becoming ripe for cliche.

How to Cheat by LA filmmaker Amber Sealey, who here carries triple duty as actor/writer/director, falls squarely into this style and does rather flirt with cliche a few times, but is saved from mediocrity by the strength of its performances and a few scenes which perfectly and awkwardly capture the minutia of modern life. Mark and Beth (Kent Osborne and Sealey) have been married for several years, and are getting to the point in life that their same-aged friends are on their second child and starting to bug them about having children of their own. But their marriage isn’t in particularly good shape, blowing up into frequent fights interrupted by desperate attempts to get pregnant – something Mark isn’t even sure he wants anymore, at least not with Beth. He’s got a point, but he’s not just struggling with her, he can’t seem to feel or care about anything. So he takes the conscious step to join an online dating service and find someone to cheat on his wife with.

It’s a little similar in concept to The Freebie, a film about a couple deciding to each sleep with someone else to try to revive their marriage which got a good bit of positive buzz on the festival circuit last year. And it isn’t quite as groundbreaking an idea as it initially seems, but it is at least interesting how much it takes Mark’s point of view, and indeed, he does gain confidence and happiness once he meets Louise, the one woman he meets who doesn’t immediately dismiss him in disgust when he tells her what she’s doing.

The film goes some obvious places, but all three main actors ground the story and make you care about them, even when they’re behaving in hurtful and selfish ways. Amanda Street as Louise manages to make the other woman someone interesting and easy to like, but while Sealey plays Beth as a bit of an argumentative shrew at the beginning, it soon becomes clear how much pressure she’s under as well, and the toll that recovering from a miscarriage has taken on her personally as well as on their marriage. Meanwhile, Kent Osborne is great, making Mark someone who does things out of personal confusion rather than malice, and who you really hope gets things straightened out.

In addition, there are a lot of really good sections – the super-awkward conversations with their child-having friends ring very true (though having two of them that basically just rehash each other was a bit overkill), Mark’s attempted dates are quite funny, and the part where Beth and Louise finally meet is quietly well-done. But the whole doesn’t flow together all that well, making it somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Thankfully, the film is free from the quirk that’s starting to overplague another brand of indie film, but as I suggested above, this more realistic type of budget filmmaking is starting to run together. I’m not sure How to Cheat does quite enough to distinguish itself.

Director: Amber Sealey
Screenplay: Amber Sealey
Producers: Ben Thoma
Starring: Amber Sealey, Kent Osborne, Amanda Street
Running Time: 88 min
Country/Language: USA, English
US Theatrical Release Date: no US distribution