Set in 1983, just after the birth of Automated Teller Machines, High Life is a story of kinship, loyalty, and honour among thieves. In a busy downtown hospital, a visit from his former socio-pathic cellmate Bug (Stephen Eric McIntyre) has just gotten Dick fired from his job as a hospital janitor. Unemployed and in need of fast cash Dick gets the idea to rob one of the day’s brand new ATM machines, to “buy a little self-respect”, announces Dick to Bug and the team. Enter the charismatic, criminally-minded Donnie, (Joe Anderson) and the front-man, the sexy, sleepy-eyed charmer Billy, (Rossif Sutherland) and all of the pieces are in place. “It’s a precision job,” says Dick the night before the heist: “No violence.” You think?
Naturally things don’t go according to plan and the unfolding catalogue of disasters that confronts Dick is enough to test any friend’s loyalties as the lovable losers bungle their way toward a pipe-dream of quick riches. Alternately tragic and hysterical, High Life’s perfect plan ends up anything but when one of the bank’s employees double-crosses them all. Set against the nostalgic back-beat of Three Dog Night, Creedence Clearwater Revival and a raft of April Wine, High Life’s highwire tension unfolds with calamitous results.