DANCES WITH FILMS ’25: Fusion Short
| Title: Unfaithful! (2024) Director: Seri DeYoung Writer: Otha Cole // Seri DeYoung IMDb Plot: Reality show host Shaun Johnson discovers how much his life mirrors his troubled guests when his own relationship insecurities cause him to spiral. This dark satire highlights the unsavory moments at the dawn of reality TV. Joe Says: Unfaithful! winks with a pop-star smile when it should have sneered like a punk rocker. |
Unfaithful! is a nine-minute short that catapults us straight back to the cringeworthy days of early-2000s reality TV: when moral ambiguity and bad taste were broadcast in living color all afternoon. Directed and co-written by Seri DeYoung, this ironic, dark comedy asks if cheaters deserve justice… or just better lighting.
At the center is Shaun Johnson (played with pitch-perfect, smarmy intensity by Ronald Auguste), host of Unfaithful!, a bottom-shelf reality show doling out justice to those scorned who have felt the string of betrayal. Or, more accurately read as clueless dudes still licking their wounds from being rightfully ignored. The delicious twist? Shaun’s own marriage is hanging by a thread. Quelle surprise.
DeYoung and cinematographer Carrie Morgan Glassman absolutely nail the aesthetic of trash TV: washed-out visuals, melodramatic setups, bargain-bin graphics, and the ever-present hope that someone, somewhere, will throw a punch. This is an atmosphere of barely-restrained chaos — and it works. Auguste sells the role like a man who missed his calling selling knives on late-night cable.
While the setup builds towards a boiling explosion, the satire merely simmers. Dark humor underlies it all but the snark factor should have been turned to 11. Unfaithful! winks with a pop-star smile when it should have sneered like a punk rocker.
Unfaithful!, however, is undeniably fun. This is a short that deserves to be seen, and, most importantly, promotes enough bite to start important conversations.
Be sure to check out Unfaithful! and many other indie films during the Dances With Films fest.
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