90 mins |
Rated
Not Rated
Directed by Sarah Friedland
Starring Katelyn Nacon, H. Jon Benjamin, Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle Smith
Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), a retired cook, prepares breakfast in her sunny and cozy kitchen — a dish she seems to have made many times before, although small and puzzling errors now punctuate her comfortable routine. When her son (H. Jon Benjamin) arrives to dine with her, she mistakes him for a suitor. Their “date” takes them to an assisted living facility, which Ruth does not remember that she had previously selected for herself.
Among her fellow memory care residents, Ruth feels lost and adrift, certain she has found herself somewhere she does not belong. As she slowly begins to accept the warmth and support of care workers Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle) and Brian (Andy McQueen), she finds new ways to ground herself in her body, even as her mind embarks on a journey all its own. Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s coming-of-old-age feature compassionately follows the winding path of octogenarian Ruth’s shifting memories and desires while remaining rooted in her sage perspective.
“From the opening scene of Sarah Friedland’s empathetic debut feature Familiar Touch, Kathleen Chalfant radiates a magnetic yet dubious sense of poise that undergirds the film’s careful balance of tragedy and hope.” - Beatrice Loayza, New York Times Critic’s Pick
“Illuminates its protagonist’s condition with uncommon concision and grace ... Chalfant’s performance, for all its exquisite subtlety, is also furiously alive…” - Justin Chang, The New Yorker
“Familiar Touch is a film about forgetting, but it’s also a reminder—as moving, sincere and gracefully unadorned as any I’ve seen in some time—of the actor’s art ... [Chalfant] delivers the sort of performance that feels at once utterly authentic and like the product of long experience. It is, in a word, a masterclass.” - Zachary Barnes, The Wall Street Journal
“Familiar Touch is a gorgeous drama with an open, aching heart.…A breathtaking feature debut from Friedland, who comes right out of the gate with an assured narrative voice… This is the kind of small indie that reminds us of the depths of emotion that can be experienced onscreen” - Jourdain Searles, RogerEbert.com
“Achingly Intimate ... Chalfant is wonderfully emotive” - Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“Friedland’s film is so gentle and well observed, with superlative performances from Chalfant and Benjamin, that it feels new and fresh” - Max Cea, Esquire
“A precise, funny and deeply moving portrait of a woman adjusting to assisted living ... Friedland’s film, as sharp as it is soft, conveys both the terror of losing the life you recognize, and the intermittent, fragmented joy of finding it again.” - Guy Lodge, Variety
“An infinitely tender movie ... A quietly wondrous feature debut” - Alison Willmore, Vulture
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Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), a retired cook, prepares breakfast in her sunny and cozy kitchen — a dish she seems to have made many times before, although small and puzzling errors now punctuate her comfortable routine. When her son (H. Jon Benjamin) arrives to dine with her, she mistakes him for a suitor. Their “date” takes them to an assisted living facility, which Ruth does not remember that she had previously selected for herself.
Among her fellow memory care residents, Ruth feels lost and adrift, certain she has found herself somewhere she does not belong. As she slowly begins to accept the warmth and support of care workers Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle) and Brian (Andy McQueen), she finds new ways to ground herself in her body, even as her mind embarks on a journey all its own. Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s coming-of-old-age feature compassionately follows the winding path of octogenarian Ruth’s shifting memories and desires while remaining rooted in her sage perspective.
“From the opening scene of Sarah Friedland’s empathetic debut feature Familiar Touch, Kathleen Chalfant radiates a magnetic yet dubious sense of poise that undergirds the film’s careful balance of tragedy and hope.” - Beatrice Loayza, New York Times Critic’s Pick
“Illuminates its protagonist’s condition with uncommon concision and grace ... Chalfant’s performance, for all its exquisite subtlety, is also furiously alive…” - Justin Chang, The New Yorker
“Familiar Touch is a film about forgetting, but it’s also a reminder—as moving, sincere and gracefully unadorned as any I’ve seen in some time—of the actor’s art ... [Chalfant] delivers the sort of performance that feels at once utterly authentic and like the product of long experience. It is, in a word, a masterclass.” - Zachary Barnes, The Wall Street Journal
“Familiar Touch is a gorgeous drama with an open, aching heart.…A breathtaking feature debut from Friedland, who comes right out of the gate with an assured narrative voice… This is the kind of small indie that reminds us of the depths of emotion that can be experienced onscreen” - Jourdain Searles, RogerEbert.com
“Achingly Intimate ... Chalfant is wonderfully emotive” - Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“Friedland’s film is so gentle and well observed, with superlative performances from Chalfant and Benjamin, that it feels new and fresh” - Max Cea, Esquire
“A precise, funny and deeply moving portrait of a woman adjusting to assisted living ... Friedland’s film, as sharp as it is soft, conveys both the terror of losing the life you recognize, and the intermittent, fragmented joy of finding it again.” - Guy Lodge, Variety
“An infinitely tender movie ... A quietly wondrous feature debut” - Alison Willmore, Vulture
