FAMILIAR TOUCH Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Sarah Freidland
Stars: Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle, Andy McQueen, H Jon Benjamin.
We’ve had a number of films dealing with aging people struggling with dementia – amongst them are the 2006 drama Away From Her, starring Julie Christie; Florian Zeller’s 2022 drama The Father, for which Anthony Hopkins earned his second Oscar, and Michael Haneke’s bleak 2012 film Amour. Now we can add to that list Familiar Touch, a small, gentle, intimate, quietly tragic and sympathetic drama that puts a human face on this difficult subject matter.
Octogenarian Ruth Goldman (played by Tony award winning actress Kathleen Chalfant) is a retired cook who lives by herself in the family home. However, she is slowly finding herself struggling as familiar everyday activities such as cooking breakfast seem to become more difficult. She fails to recognise her son Steve (comic actor H Jon Benjamin, better known for his roles in tv series Dr Katz, Professional Therapist and films like Bob’s Burgers, etc) when he comes by, mistaking him for a romantic date. Steve has come to drive her to Bella Vista, a nursing home, the assisted living centre where she herself has chosen to spend her final years. Ruth tries to adapt to life in the unfamiliar confines of the nursing home.
The charming and curious Ruth forms friendships with a couple of the staff, notably the patient and supportive nurse Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle, from House Of Cards, etc) and Brian (Andy McQueen, from The Girlfriend Experience, etc), the on-site doctor. And while she still has some awareness of who she is and her past, she grows more confused and troubled over time.
Familiar Touch is the debut narrative feature from choreographer and filmmaker Sarah Friedland, who has previously shot short experimental films. Freidland was partially inspired by the story of her own grandmother who battled with dementia in the final years of her life. Despite the often sad subject matter though Friedland still manages to inject touches of warmth and humour into the material. She eschews melodrama opting for a more realist and compassionate approach. Cinematographer Gabe C Elder (Karen Dalton: In My Own Time, etc) adopts a more observational approach, using long takes, stillness and closeups to good effect.
Chalfant delivers a strong, intelligent performance that captures Ruth’s growing loss of memory and her sense of vulnerability and confusion. She totally inhabits the character. Benjamin brings a heartbreaking quality to his role as the son torn between his love for his mother and his obligation to have her cared for as her memory fades.
The film was shot on location in the Villa Gardens residential care facility in Pasadena, which doubles for the fictitious Bella Vista. Many of the staff and residents at the Villa Gardens nursing home play themselves, adding a sense of authenticity to the film and its setting.
★★★
