You’re scrolling through a streaming service on a rainy Tuesday night, and you see a thumbnail of a sweaty, intense-looking guy holding a gun. It's titled The Adulterers. Or maybe you saw it under its original, slightly more evocative title, And After That. Either way, you probably clicked because the premise is the kind of suburban nightmare that feels uncomfortably plausible. It is a gritty, low-budget indie thriller that leans heavily on just three people in one room.
When a movie relies that much on a single location, the acting has to be flawless. If the cast of The Adulterers didn't sell the desperation, the whole thing would have collapsed into a predictable B-movie. But they didn't. They actually pulled off something that feels more like a filmed stage play than a standard Hollywood thriller.
The film is loosely based on "true events," which is always a bit of a marketing stretch, but the performances make you believe it. It follows a man who returns home on his anniversary to find his wife in bed with another man. Instead of walking out or calling a lawyer, he decides to hold them captive at gunpoint for a long, grueling afternoon of psychological torture and "honesty." It’s messy. It’s loud. Honestly, it’s kind of exhausting to watch, but you can’t really look away.
Breaking Down the Main Cast of The Adulterers
The heavy lifting is done by Sean Faris. You might remember him from Never Back Down or his brief stint on Pretty Little Liars. In this film, he plays Samuel, the husband who has just had his entire world shattered. Faris has always had that "all-American guy" look, but here, he twists it. He plays Samuel with this volatile, twitchy energy. One second he's weeping, and the next he's screaming about the sanctity of marriage. It’s a physical performance. He isn’t just a "villain" or a "victim"; he’s a guy having a total mental breakdown in real-time.
Then you have Mehcad Brooks.
Brooks plays Kimani, the "other man." Most people recognize Brooks from his time as James Olsen on Supergirl or from Mortal Kombat. He brings a really interesting dynamic to the cast of The Adulterers. Instead of playing Kimani as a typical sleazy guy, he plays him with a weird sense of dignity. He’s terrified, obviously, but he also challenges Samuel. He forces the audience to look at the nuance of the situation. Is he a "bad guy" for being there? Yeah, probably. But Brooks makes him human enough that you don't necessarily want to see him get shot.
Completing the trio is Danielle Savre as Ashley, the wife. Savre, who later found huge success on Station 19, has the hardest job in the movie. She has to play a character who has done something arguably unforgivable, yet she has to keep the audience’s attention without becoming a caricature of a "cheating spouse." She spends a lot of the movie in a state of sheer panic, but as the secrets start spilling out, she pivots. She starts hitting back with her own truths about their marriage.
Why the Small Cast Works
Budget constraints often lead to the best creative choices. By keeping the cast of The Adulterers limited to these three—with a few minor appearances by actors like Rebecca Marshall (as Lola) and Jay Ali—the director, H.M. Coakley, forced the focus onto the dialogue.
✨ Don't miss: Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett: Why Fans Are Still Divided Over the Daimyo of Tatooine
There are no car chases.
No explosions.
Just three people in a bedroom, covered in sweat and regret.
The chemistry is what makes it work. Or rather, the anti-chemistry. You can feel the history between Samuel and Ashley, and you can feel the immediate, sharp friction between Samuel and Kimani. It’s like a pressure cooker. If any one of these three actors had phoned it in, the movie would have felt like a cheap soap opera. Instead, it feels like a claustrophobic character study.
The Real Story and the Script's Impact
People always ask: "Is this actually real?"
The film claims to be "inspired by true events." In the world of indie film, that usually means the writer read a news clipping about a domestic dispute and filled in 90% of the blanks with imagination. However, the core of the story—a man discovering an affair and reacting with a hostage situation—is a scenario that has played out in police blotters across the country for decades.
The script focuses on the "Why."
Why did Ashley do it? Why was Samuel so oblivious? Why did Kimani think this was a good idea? The cast of The Adulterers had to navigate a script that isn't always kind to its characters. There are moments where the dialogue feels a bit heavy-handed, but the actors ground it. They make the "why" feel personal rather than just a plot point.
Beyond the Lead Trio: Supporting Roles
While the movie is basically a three-person show, the small supporting cast provides some much-needed context.
🔗 Read more: Why Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Actors Still Define the Modern Spy Thriller
- Rebecca Marshall: She plays Lola, and while her screen time is limited, she represents the outside world that Samuel is rapidly losing touch with.
- Jay Ali: Playing Benny, Ali provides a brief glimpse into the life Samuel had before this specific afternoon. It’s a bit of a "before and after" contrast.
The Legacy of the Film in the Streaming Era
Why do people still search for the cast of The Adulterers years after its 2015 release?
It’s the "Netflix Effect"—or the "Tubi Effect." These mid-budget thrillers have a massive second life on streaming platforms. People love a contained thriller. It’s a genre that works perfectly for home viewing because the intimacy of the small screen matches the claustrophobia of the setting.
The film also serves as a "before they were even more famous" time capsule. Seeing Danielle Savre before her Station 19 fame or Mehcad Brooks before he was a DC hero is a big draw for fans of those actors. They get to see them do something much darker and more "unfiltered" than what network television usually allows.
Technical Execution and Directing
H.M. Coakley didn't have a massive budget to play with. You can see it in the lighting—it’s harsh, almost yellow. It adds to the grubbiness of the situation. It doesn’t look "pretty." It looks like a humid, miserable day in New Orleans, which is exactly where it’s set.
The camera work stays tight on the faces. You see the pores, the tears, the spit. It’s invasive. By putting the cast of The Adulterers under a cinematic microscope, the director ensures that every flinch and every lie is visible.
Critical Reception vs. Audience Reality
Critics weren't exactly kind to this movie when it dropped. It holds a pretty low score on most review aggregators. They called it "melodramatic" and "exploitative."
But audiences? Audiences are a different story.
💡 You might also like: The Entire History of You: What Most People Get Wrong About the Grain
On forums and in YouTube comments, people debate the ending constantly. They take sides.
"Samuel was justified!"
"No, Samuel is a psychopath!"
"Ashley deserved better!"
When a movie can make people argue about the morality of its characters ten years later, it’s done something right. It touched a nerve. Infidelity is a universal fear, and seeing it play out in such an extreme, violent way triggers a visceral reaction that "polished" Hollywood movies often miss.
What You Should Take Away From The Adulterers
If you haven't watched it yet, go in expecting a stage play with teeth. Don't expect a high-octane action flick. It's a slow burn that turns into a frantic scream.
The cast of The Adulterers delivers performances that are better than the material probably deserved. They took a straightforward "cheating" story and turned it into a heavy exploration of ownership, masculinity, and the lies people tell themselves to keep a relationship alive.
Practical Next Steps for Viewers
- Watch for the Nuance: Pay attention to Kimani (Mehcad Brooks) in the second act. His shift from victim to provocateur is the most interesting part of the film.
- Compare Titles: If you're searching for it, look for And After That if you can't find it as The Adulterers. Some international markets and older DVD releases use the original title.
- Check the Actors' Later Work: If you liked Danielle Savre, her work in Station 19 shows her range in a completely different, more heroic light. If Sean Faris caught your eye, his earlier work in Never Back Down is a classic of the mid-2000s teen-action era.
- Research the "True Story": While the film is a dramatization, looking into the "crimes of passion" laws in various states provides a chilling context to the legal threats Samuel makes throughout the movie.
The film is a reminder that sometimes, the scariest thing isn't a monster under the bed. It’s the person lying in it. The cast of The Adulterers captured that specific, domestic terror with a raw intensity that keeps the movie relevant in the endless sea of streaming content. No matter how you feel about the characters, you won't forget the afternoon they spent in that room.
Next Steps: If you are interested in similar "contained thrillers," you might want to look into movies like The Invitation (2015) or Hard Candy. These films use a limited cast and a single location to build maximum tension, much like the way the cast of The Adulterers carries their story. For those following the careers of the leads, checking the current production schedules for Station 19 or Mehcad Brooks' recent projects will show how much they've evolved since this indie project.