See Familiar Touch for the brave and nuanced performance of Kathleen Chalfant. She plays Ruth, a woman taken out of her comfortable home and transitioned into Bella Vista, a tony assisted living facility. Familiar Touch handles the subject of ageing and dementia from a unique perspective that is perfectly embodied in Ms. Chalfant’s performance.
We first see Ruth from behind, as she stands in front of a mirror. Her neck is creased with age, and her hair is white and sparse. She’s dressing, as she will several times in the film. From the outset, it’s clear Ms. Chalfant will give an unvarnished performance, candid in its imperfections.
Ruth is used to a life of the mind and can’t quite relate to hers slipping away. She has moments of lucidity. She doesn’t always recognize her son Steve (H. Jon Benjamin), who reluctantly committed her. In fact, in one scene, before we understand their relationship, she subtly flirts with him. Ms. Chalfant has a rich history on Broadway and in TV and film. She is tall and stately and employs all her skills to show Ruth’s shaky adjustment to her new surroundings.
At Bella Vista, she’s put on Memory Lane, the dementia wing. She is disoriented and annoyed. Much of Ruth’s ethos relies on the preparation of food. In the dining hall, she demands a menu. During an intake exam, she aggressively explains the recipe for borscht. At breakfast, she draws on her eggs (we don’t see the result). A scene of her takeover of the facility’s kitchen, assuming it’s her own, is funny and poignant.
Director Sarah Friedland’s inspiration to make Familiar Touch comes from observing a loved one’s decline as well as working as a caregiver to artists and creative people. Her sympathies show: Ms. Friedland eschews drama. She doesn’t go for the shock of Anthony Hopkins in The Father or the desperation of the elderly couple in Gaspar Noé’s Vortex. The pathos happens around the edges, involving mostly her primary caregivers, Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle) and Brian (Andy McQueen), both excellent. In one scene, Ruth eavesdrops on them as they chat in the parking lot below her window. Their comments underscore the disparity between the exclusive facility and the lives of the people who work there, the stakes of the real world.
As Steve cleans out his mother’s house — made warm with wood and leather furniture, books, and plants — we see the contrast with it and Bella Vista’s relative impersonality. The cinematography of Gabe C. Elder and the production design of Stephanie Ostin Choen bring the point home, so to speak. Thanks to Ms. Chalfant’s intelligent performance and Ms. Friedland’s sensitive direction, when Ruth finally realizes her situation and asks Vanessa, “I’ll live here for the rest of my life?,” we lament her past while confident her future is in good hands.
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Familiar Touch. Directed by Sarah Friedland. 2025. From Music Box Releasing. Available on VOD and digital platforms. Runtime 90 minutes.