Film
Plastic Man
A plastic surgeon's affair unravels his marriage and damages those around him in this 1999 drama. It's a precise examination of infidelity's ripple effects, grounded by John Thaw's weary performance. For viewers interested in domestic tragedy told without melodrama—how one selfish choice fractures a life.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like slow, unflashy domestic dramas where a marriage comes apart in small, believable moves, and you don't need the film to tell you whose side to take.
Skip it if you want something bright and quick, since this sober TV movie lingers on guilt and self-justification and rarely lets the mood lift.
What it asks of you: A steady, unhurried hour and forty minutes of long, quiet scenes that watch faces more than they chase plot; it asks for your full attention, not background company.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Unfaithful2002
Diane Lane and Richard Gere navigate a marriage broken by infidelity with real emotional intelligence. A taut thriller that understands desire and its consequences with genuine complexity and style.
But The affair itself is somewhat glamorous, which undermines the moral weight. Some find it too invested in the aesthetics of transgression.
The Deep Blue Sea2011
Terence Davies examines a woman's love affair and its destructive fallout with exquisite restraint. Visually gorgeous and deeply melancholic—it moves slowly but rewards patient attention with real insight into human damage.
But Deliberately paced and introspective. If you want plot momentum or conventional resolution, you'll find it frustratingly quiet.
Breaking and Entering2006
Jude Law plays an architect whose affair fractures his marriage and professional life in Antonia Bird's intelligent drama. It thinks seriously about desire, guilt, and the lives we build and destroy.
But Uneven execution and some weak supporting performances. It reaches for profundity it doesn't always grasp.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Plastic Man
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Magnolia1999
Both examine how one man's selfishness poisons everyone close to him, but Magnolia explodes the form to show how damage is systemic, not contained.
Paul Thomas Anderson's three-hour sprawl examines male fragility, manipulation, and the lies men tell themselves. John Thaw isn't in it, but Jason Robards plays a dying patriarch whose narcissism mirrors Thaw's surgeon—the emotional devastation ricochets through families across the city.
But Audaciously long, tonally chaotic, and ends with an actual plague of frogs. It's maximalist when restraint might serve better.
More like this (8)
The Good Girl2002
Jennifer Aniston gives a superb performance as a woman whose affair exposes the quiet desperation of her marriage. Dark and unsentimental about infidelity and small-town stasis.
But Bleak tone without much warmth. The resolution is deliberately hollow, which some find punishing rather than cathartic.
Liar Liar1997
Before this, Jim Carrey's father-son drama showed he could do genuine emotion. The infidelity subplot grounds the fantasy elements in real family hurt and reconciliation.
But It's a Jim Carrey comedy, so expect loud mugging alongside the drama. The tonal shifts don't always work.
A Place in the Sun1951
Montgomery Clift's affair destroys multiple lives in this American classic about ambition and weakness. Visually ravishing and morally unsparing—it understands how desire and class collide.
But Nearly three hours and in black-and-white. The pacing is deliberate by modern standards; some find it slow.
About a Boy2002
Hugh Grant's charming man-child is revealed as someone avoiding responsibility and hurting those attached to him. Funny and character-driven, with real warmth beneath the critique.
But Lighter in register than Plastic Man. If you want darker examination of infidelity, this skews toward comedy and redemption.
Closer2004
Four people's intersecting affairs and betrayals examined with surgical precision. Smart, sexy, and genuinely painful—it doesn't look away from what people do to each other.
But Relentlessly bleak and the infidelity feels almost incidental to broader emotional cruelty. Some find it misanthropic.
The Bridges of Madison County1995
Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep explore an affair with surprising tenderness. A meditation on duty, regret, and the roads not taken—quiet and genuinely moving.
But The affair is romanticized rather than condemned. If you want moral clarity on infidelity, this offers forgiveness instead.
The Killing1956
Both track the aftermath of one man's transgression, but Killing locates the poison in criminal ambition rather than erotic desire—same destruction, different appetites.
Kubrick's heist noir uses fragmented chronology to show how one crime unravels multiple lives. It's about masculine pride and desperation disguised as certainty—how men destroy what they claim to love.
But In black-and-white and shot in 1950s style. The chronological structure can feel gimmicky if you're not engaged with the moral argument.
Before the Fall2004
Both examine charisma as a tool of manipulation and how attractive, successful men weaponize their power over those who trust them most.
German film about a private tutor's arrival at a Nazi elite school, his subtle seduction of adolescent minds, and the moral rot beneath a beautiful surface. Gorgeous and deeply disturbing—corruption as performance.
But In German with subtitles, historical setting, and the seduction is intellectual rather than erotic. Some find it too controlled or the point laboured.
People
Cast
John ThawJoe McConnell
Sorcha CusackErin McConnell
Frances BarberLouise Ferman- Stuart PiperJames McConnell
Eddie MarsanLiam Cooper
Shaun ParkesAdam Okoye
Directing
- Sarah Pia AndersonDirector
Writing
- Robin MukherjeeWriter