By Ashley DelBello

What drives someone to cheat?  Director and writer Amber Sealey sets out to explore this question in her independent and somewhat provocative film, How To Cheat, which was shown throughout June at the Los Angeles Film Festival.  Typically, when we think of cheating we think of it happening after a night of drinking or unexpectedly, but what happens when a person actually sets out to cheat?

Meet Mark (Kent Osborne), an unhappy husband in his thirties, stuck in a marriage where he and his wife Beth (Amber Sealey) are trying to get pregnant, but are repeatedly unsuccessful. Mark feels like something is missing from his life and that his best years are behind him so he decides to try online dating while still married.  Through these quick snippets of dates, we learn that Mark can’t lie about being married.  Naturally, the majority of the women he meets have an adverse reaction to it.  All, but one, Cue Louise (Amanda Street,) a free spirit with a drinking problem, who is also searching for something to fill a void in her life. She can tell almost immediately that Mark has someone at home, but still continues with the date.  As you can probably guess they end up sleeping with each other and a series of atypical events unfold.