Based on a segment from the radio show This American Life, it stars Peter Dinklage as a professor who tries to buy the estate of a lonely widow played by Shirley MacLaine.

His braggadocious real estate broker Dell advises him to seek smaller property, but Phil sees an advertisement he cannot resist: lonely widow Astrid, offers to sell her gorgeous $5 million dollar home for $240,000 cash provided that she be allowed to live the rest of her days there, while the buyer lives in the much humbler upper level, inheriting the home upon her passing.

He finds Astrid prickly, and is later alarmed when she introduces a Greek plumber, Boris, and a brokerage lawyer, Maggie, as two of her kids.

Worse still, a brief affair with one of his graduate students, Clare, and an unhinged mental break from the stress of his precarious financial situation during one of his lectures results in Phil being suspended by the dean, Craig.

Seeing that the home, which still serves as the grounds of the summer camp, is a place special to many people, he refuses to sell it and opts to maintain it.

The independent film American Dreamer was first announced on February 2, 2021, with Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, and Kimberly Quinn attached to star.