The High Life

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

We all hope to find our calling in life, but how many of us have that moment the way Evie Gold (Stephanie Sanditz) does? Sanditz’s The High Life takes us on a wild ride through the life of Evie and her spiritual epiphany, but not without a few bumps along the way. And, of course, no bumpy journey would be complete without a dysfunctional family to try and derail Evie from finding her way.

When Evie’s Aunt Linda (Amy Landecker) dies and the family gathers for the reading of the will with lawyer Sherylee Klein (Jessica Easton), Evie arrives in style and hot off the heels of what she felt was a successful reading for a potential upcoming project. But knowing Evie’s checkered past her family is not impressed as Evie is notorious for bad choices. However, it is when Evie has an epiphany the moment she honor’s Aunt Linda’s final wishes that she understands her possible success for the upcoming project is instead a delusion she had while boozed up. All of that and throw in a hunky ex named Jackson (Christopher Mychael Watson) as caretaker to her grandmother Gloria (Sherry Watson), moving back in with her parents Levi (Ron Perkins) and Jane (Linda Purl) and an egomaniacal brother/politician-to-be Billy (Jeremy Glazer) who wants to bury all of Evie’s skeletons before they affect his campaign.

Stephanie Sanditz has found a way to bring humor to finding the righteous path in life. Evie is no saint and she doesn’t seem completely interested in a perfect lifestyle, but she is eager to at least try and do the right thing for once in her life. What I love just as much as her character is how her family plays into her life. Evie’s imperfections seem to be mired in the own dilemmas of her family. From Billy who is extremely self-absorbed in presenting a perfect front to potential voters, Jane trying to hide her health issues from the family or Levi who tries and always falls short—each family member has their own faults that they fail to acknowledge and instead focus on Evie to make themselves feel better.

One character that I really look forward to seeing more of is Gabriel (Jesse Garcia) a philosophical, tattooed biker type who helps Evie find her way to spiritual enlightenment rather than another liquor store. While the idea of a fallen angel mentor has an air of cliché to it this is the type of character that Evie needs to drive her story forward, especially in her time of need. Gabriel knows exactly how to guide Evie away from distractions with gentle nudges rather than harsh criticisms, hopefully towards a fulfilling lifestyle rather than the self-destructive norm.

Will Evie be able to remain on the path to betterment? Or will she stray again when things finally start looking good? Ever the optimist, I think maybe this time Evie may find her way—and keep us entertained in the process.