Synopsis
Mathias, a down-and-out New Yorker, travels to Paris to liquidate a huge, valuable apartment he has inherited from his estranged father. Once there, however, he discovers a refined old woman, Mathilde, living in the apartment with her daughter, Chloé.
Mathias quickly learns that the apartment is a "viager" — an ancient French system for buying and selling apartments — and that he will not actually get possession of the apartment until Mathilde dies, and that he, in addition to that, owes her a life annuity of € 2400 a month. All this is a surprise to him, since his father never told him and he had language problems with the French lawyer.
Mathias has no money and no place to live, but Mathilde allows him to stay in the apartment with her. However, to pay for the next life annuity payment he steals and sells furniture from the apartment, and embarrassingly asks a prospective buyer of his contract for an advance payment.
Mathias discovers that Mathilde and his father had a long-lasting affair while both were married. Mathias and Chloé fall in love with each other, and since Chloé wants to stay in the apartment, Mathias decides at the last minute to decline a multimillion offer for the apartment/contract. Mathilde points out that Mathias does not have to worry about money: he himself can sell en viager, allowing him to live in the apartment while also providing him a life annuity (albeit a modest one, because of his fairly young age of 57).