One of the interview subjects in the three-part Hulu documentary series “The Ashley Madison Affair” says on multiple occasions that certain details regarding the subject matter made him want to take a shower, and you might feel the same way after experiencing this journalistically sound but — what’s the technical term? — icky deep-dive into the rise and scandal-ridden fall of the notorious website that aggressively embraced sleaziness while serving as an online conduit for thousands if not millions of married people looking to have an affair.
“The Ashley Madison Affair” has a bit of a low-rent look and perhaps that’s a deliberate choice given the material. Director Johanna Hamilton utilizes archival footage, interviews with tech journalists and ABC News contributor Sunny Hostin and Ashley Madison Chief Strategy Officer Paul Keable, conversations with real-life folks whose lives were deeply impacted by the site, and also sprinkles in “interviews” with actors who quote actual Ashley Madison users. (That latter technique could have come across as cheesy, but the actors are actually quite good and natural.)
