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An all-Dallas cast and crew gathered at Denton Community TV on a Saturday morning in April to bring a powerful story to life.
After months of preparation, they had just 12 hours to turn their script into a compelling short film — The Foursome, a thought-provoking morality tale that explores the many shades of infidelity through the eyes of four men.
Directed by screenwriter KC Bailey, the film navigates the emotional terrain of its characters, revealing how painful truths can both divide and unite. Cinematographer Alex Simon captures every nuance of the actors’ performances, while original music by Kays Al-Atrakchi adds a haunting emotional layer.
“A card game is held every other week by four long term friends, and three of them discover that that the fourth one’s wife is is cheating on him, and they decide to get evidence and present it to him and tell him you know, because they assume that he doesn’t know,” Bailey said. “They tell him, and they’re surprised by his answer that he does know, and he proceeds to ask them questions about their own betrayals and infidelities in life. And they tell very different stories. One of them tells a tragic story. Another one tells almost a flippant story. Another one tells kind of a cerebral story, and so there are different takes on the notion of infidelity strung through the film.”
Played by local actors Paul A. Freeman, Tomer Braff, Chester Gayao, and Manny Brion, the characters confront their own experiences with cheating and betrayal. The minimalist set — just a card table, four chairs, and a piano — echoes the style of 12 Angry Men, where emotion, dialogue, and plot take center stage over action or scenery.
“I have been able to actually see myself up on the screen for the first time, and credits rolling and theaters and the like, but this is going to be one that’s more intimate,” Freeman, who lives in Oak Cliff, says. “I have a kind of a connection to this character and a more intimate tie to this particular person. So I’m actually exhilarated to see how it turned out, because I haven’t seen a rough cut of it, or the final cut. And so just having friends, family, other people that may be attending through word of mouth, I think it’s going to be a really charming and interesting little night.”
A trailer can be viewed here. The film premiers on July 28 at 6 p.m. at the Texas Theatre — tickets are $10.
