At the start of the video, the audience is presented with a stereotypical American house, which the camera slowly zooms in on. It is clear that the camera is handheld, creating a feeling of uneasiness, accompanying the mood in the house. The cinematography is partnered with the sound of birdsong, this is symbolic of peace which highly contrasts the dynamics between the couple. There is also a voice over at the start, but the cinematography later accompanies the audio. It sets in a sense of equilibrium for the audience. The lighting is also bright around the house, but the house itself seems to be covered by the shadows of the trees, suggesting something is not quite right. The actual house is white in colour, but the doors are black. These colours remind the audience of the 'good' and 'evil' that is traditionally seen in films.
After this, the audience is finally introduced to the couple that live inside the house. The atmosphere seems uneasy. Mise en scene is powerful within this scene as the man bares a blank facial expression whilst looking into the mirror. This depicts that he doesn't see his wrongdoings or fazed by them. He is wearing a suit, perhaps displaying his wealth or giving the audience an insight to what his job is. Proxemics can be seen here as the pair are quite close together, falsely suggesting that they are in quite a close relationship.
The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of the female walking out to say goodbye to her partner. The audience can see from her facial expressions that she seems relatively happy. Interestingly, the colour palette changes to quite a dark one and lighting is minimal. This continues until she reaches the door way and the natural daylight hit her. This is powerful cinematography as it represents her being in the dark as her partners cheated on her. However, when she finally comes into the light, it is showing the audience that she now knows what he has done. Facial expressions are yet again used here as her smile completely fades into almost a disappointed look. This really creates dramatic irony as her partner does not know that she has realised he has been seeing someone else.
Then, the music kicks in and the birdsong instantly stops, highlighting the change of mood. The video footage constantly cuts between footage of the female and male in separate locations. The environment that the female is in is lit up well, whilst the man is surrounding by darkness, creating a clear binary opposition. Costume is very important in this snippet as the female is wearing a white dress. It looks as if it is similar to a wedding dress at one point - which is symbolic of purity and almost innocence. On the other hand, the video footage of the man has a lot of camera noise surrounding him, making the audience feel as if he is more suspicious. Again, he has a completely blank expression, highlighting that he does not feel guilty.
Next, the audience is presented with an audiovisual as the lyrics 'For better or for worse' can be heard on the screen. At this point, the female takes her lady off, strongly depicting that she feels that the marriage has now come to an end. Both makeup and body language are also very important here. The lady can be seen crying due to the makeup streaming down her face. She can also be seen clutching her chest, highlighting that she has been both, physically and mentally hurt.
After this very emotional scene, the camera cuts to the woman the the husband is having a affair with. It makes the audience compare the females. His wife seems more well off than the woman that the husband is having an affair with due to the costumes that they are both wearing. For the first time since the video started, the audience can see the husband finally smile. This strongly indicates that he is happier to be with the woman he is having an affair with rather than his wife. It adds an even more sympathetic view for the wife due to the audience seeing her crying her eyes out, compared to this other woman who is happy. Proxemics are used again in this snippet as the man touches the woman, confirming to the audience that he is having an affair. Again due to the contrasts between the two female characters, it creates a binary opposition.
The audience is then introduced to a short snippet of the artist. It looks like he is performing at the same bar that the male is at due to the dark colour palette and harsh spotlight. He may have been briefly included within the music video as it shows it's a very personal song to him and that he could relate to some of the lyrics. This changes the audio from non diegetic to diegetic as the characters are able to hear it.
The female can then be seen purchasing gasoline and alcohol whilst the male can be seen continuing his affair. It depicts how desperate the wife is to get away from her problems as she resorts to drinking. She can be seen with an aggressive look on her face as a tracking shot follows her to the counter.
Whilst driving home, the audience is reintroduced to the light and dark situation with the wife again. This time, the shadows barely even cover her. It depicts how as the video continues, she is accepting the truth even more. A blurred close up of her hands is also shown, highlighting that they are shaking as she holds the wheel. This presents that she is almost unsure of what she is about to do. The camera cuts to footage of the husband having the affair, displaying that it is constantly on her mind. There is still a lot of camera noise within the footage to depict that he is not trustworthy at all.
The camera then cuts back to the housewife as she burns, what are presumably, the husband's clothes. She bares a smug look on her face as she is doing this and the fire glow can be seen on her face and in the reflection of the windows. She continues to watch the fire as it is almost like her burning away the memories that they had together.
Towards the end of the video, the husband can be seen walking back to the house. It makes the audience question where the car is that he was first seen driving off in. The blank facial expression that he had at the start of the video has now returned. The audience can also see the wife waiting for him at the door way, but in different clothing. It would suggest perhaps a different attitude too and prepares the audience for the conflict that it yet to come. However, the audience is mislead as the wife greets him with open arms. She even smiles towards the end of the video. This leads the audience to a cliffhanger as they do not know if she is smiling because of all of the destruction she has caused, knowing that the husband is about to walk in on it, or the whole video could have been a fantasy of what she wish she would do, but feels too trapped in the relationship. Therefore, she acts as if she does not know that the husband has been cheating and acts as if everything is normal. It turns into an enigma for the audience due to them not knowing whether she ended their relationship or not.
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