Why do human beings get married in almost every society in the world? Why do we cheat? Why is monogamy so important to a relationship and why does infidelity cause so much grief? These are some of the questions acclaimed documentary filmmaker Dhruv Dhawan confronts in his next feature length documentary which explores why human beings evolved cultures of marriage and monogamy that are rife with infidelity. As he attends various lavish weddings occurring within his family, Dhruv is pestered to follow suit but is haunted by his family’s history of infidelity, as well as his own and embarks on a personal quest to discover the origins of marriage, the reasons for monogamy and the pain of infidelity as he tries to mediate an open relationship with the woman he loves. Dhruv’s search takes us on a journey into the biology of sex, the history of patriarchy and the politics of monogamy told through the lives of scientists, swingers, adulterers and Dhruv’s own family.
Direction
Dhawan films his own family weddings while interrogating marriage—meta and messy.
Writing
Balances evolutionary science with cringeworthy personal confessions.
Director
Dhruv Dhawan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film's 3.2 TMDB rating likely reflects viewers uncomfortable with its premise, not its quality—provocative docs about infidelity rarely score well with monogamous default audiences.
Dhawan's South Asian family wedding footage provides rare documentary access to arranged marriage cultures confronting Western individualism around fidelity.
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