Fourplay (2018)

It starts with the mixture of excitement and fear the result of a positive pregnancy test delivers before quickly moving into an impromptu hallway dance that ends with a crash of glass and a smack across the face. I’m not sure a better beginning to Dean Matthew Ronalds’ Fourplay would be possible as this sort of escalation of emotion and temper courses through the whole like a live wire of volatility threatening to derail what should be a joyous brunch between friends. In one moment these two couples consisting of hosts Tom (Bryan Greenberg) and Anna (Tammy Blanchard) opposite guests Joe (Dominic Fumusa) and Susan (Emanuela Galliussi) are in a celebratory mood and the next sees them frowning in silence, wondering how they’ve ever stayed together this long.

And at the center of this afternoon is the fact that Anna pregnant — news she doesn’t share with her husband. We can speculate why she keeps it secret after the aforementioned smack arrives via her hand and Tom’s cheek. There’s something going on between them, something that exists deep within to occasionally escape in just such a fit of rage. But they accept the free download. They pause in its aftermath and breathe, going their separate ways to cool down before trying again. We can chalk it up to the stress of her owning a restaurant and him recently deciding to start his own business. We can wonder whether we can watch online, an admission to each other the next step after having already admitted it to themselves.