''The High Cost of Living'' is a 2010 indie drama film starring Zach Braff, Isabelle Blais and Aimee Lee. Written and directed by Deborah Chow and set in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the film centers on a young, pregnant woman whose world falls apart when she loses her child in a hit and run accident due to her drug abuse and negligence. The film made its debut at the

2010 Toronto International Film Festival The 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival, (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 19, 2010. The opening night gala presented '' Score: A Hockey Musical'', a Canadian comedy-drama musical film. '' La ...

, and was released theatrically in April 2011. It won TIFF's award for Best Canadian First Feature Film.

Plot

Nathalie ( Isabelle Blais) watches her life unravel after she loses her pregnancy due to a

hit and run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

accident. She finds an unlikely protector in Henry ( Zach Braff), a down and out guardian angel who has followed her thread. But Henry is not quite an angel, and she struggles to come to terms with the loss. Nathalie begins to rely on Henry, and even begins to love him. It becomes clear to Nathalie that he is a drug dealer, and she accepts this but tells him he should change his ways. Later, as Nathalie and the police are trying to find the man that hit her, it is revealed to be Henry. He then goes to her telling he will turn himself in because that is all he can give her since she cannot forgive him. To prove that he will he calls the detective and leaves his number. Earlier in the movie she asked him if he would accompany her when she gives birth to her stillborn, in the end he still goes. After the OR doors shut on him, the police return his call.

Cast

* Zach Braff as Henry Welles * Isabelle Blais as Nathalie *

Patrick Labbe Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

as Michael *

Julian Lo Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (giv ...

as Johnny *

Kyle Switzer Kyle Switzer (born October 10, 1985) is a Canadian actor. He played Rick Geddes in the TV show ''15/Love''. He also had a supporting role in the first two episodes of the television comedy/drama ''Reaper'' and a recurring role in the new hit sho ...

as Eli

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 15 critics, with an average rating of 5.5/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: This film bears all the hallmarks of a conventional indie drama: "a downbeat scenario, flawed protagonists, and a strongly regional inflection." Chow is credited on hitting every mark and narrative turning point. The result is a strange dramatic complexity, with a work of superficial depth.

References

External links

* * 2010 films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films shot in Montreal Films set in Montreal Films directed by Deborah Chow Films scored by Normand Corbeil 2010 directorial debut films French-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films {{2010s-Canada-film-stub