Girlfriend

A guy thinks that money can get him the girl of his dreams, though the characters set this familiar scenario apart in this independent drama. Evan (Evan Sneider) is a man in his mid-twenties who has a steady job at a restaurant and lives with his mother, Celeste (Amanda Plummer). Evan also has Down's syndrome, and while he's high-functioning and can look after himself, he has a close bond with his mother and Celeste is fiercely protective of her son. Evan's life takes a dramatic turn when Celeste dies unexpectedly, and as part of the insurance settlement, Evan is handed 15,000 dollars in cash. Ever since he was a teenager, Evan has been deeply infatuated with Candy (Shannon Woodward), whose life has been difficult since high school -- she's been stuck in an abusive relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Russ (Jackson Rathbone), who is powerfully jealous even though he can't be bothered to help support their young son, and Candy has trouble holding down a job. When Candy is about to be evicted from her home, Evan gives her a thousand dollars to pay off the bills. Candy is well aware of Evan's feelings for her, and out of confused gratitude she ends up sleeping with him, which adds to the considerable tension between her and Russ, while Russ tries to win Evan's trust in hopes of finding out how many other lovers are in Candy's life. Girlfriend was the first feature film from writer and director Justin Lerner, and received its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.