Familiar Touch

Audience Reviews

View More (8)

Justin M Probably the best acting performance I’ve seen all year so far, and maybe directing. Kathleen Chalfant plays an older woman who begins the film by being driven from her beautiful, cozy house to a memory care unit at an assisted living home. The film follows the transition period as she struggles to come to terms with her new life there. A tender and patient reflection on aging that everyone should see. The grace and poise with which Chalfant plays Ruth is otherworldly, even (especially?) in the moments she wrestles with the humanity-leaching debilitation of dementia. Her son, played tenderly and sparingly by H. Jon Benjamin (weirdly, the voice of Archer and of Bob in Bob’s Burgers) is trying to love her as best he can, even when she doesn’t know who he is. Sarah Friedland’s direction is museum-quality and, like those caring for Ruth, she never lets the viewer lose sight of her at the center of things. Lots of long, slow shots of Ruth staring into the middle distance invite us into the world of her failing mind, and it’s both beautiful and heartbreaking. (The pool scene should win an award of its own.) Like in “Sorry, Baby”, the characters around her all help her on the journey, some more than others, and it’s all done with grace and understanding this time too, even when it's hard for everyone. This is a stunning, organically uplifting gem. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/02/25 Full Review Steph B This film was filmed well with competent acting. It is slow and predictable and the storyline was a bit frustrating, but it was a believable portrayal of dementia and people experiencing it personally and in the family. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/24/25 Full Review John R Well done portrayal of the world of a dementia patient. Accurate and sensitively presented, it follows the lead character,Ruth, on her transition from living independently to someone in need of care. As someone who watched my mom decline and pass away from dementia, this movie hit home quite strongly (in a good way). Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review burrows DUNE NECTAR's support in recovering my funds from fraud warrants emulation by other companies. Their exceptional customer service, swift responses, and empathetic guidance are noteworthy. My experience began with sophisticated crypto fraud. Initially, I believed I was generating income, but I was losing funds to fraudsters. After consulting a cybersecurity specialist, I learned the group only allowed deposits, not withdrawals. DUNE NECTAR WEB EXPERT recovered my lost crypto funds, totaling one million Canadian dollars. I recommend contacting DUNE NECTAR WEB EXPERT to recover lost crypto assets, as many are victims of online crypto fraud. - Support (@) Dunenectarwebexpert (.) Com - T.me/dunenectarwebexpert Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Robin C “Familiar Touch” Octogenarian Ruth (Kathleen Chalfont) lives her day to day life quite well. But, when the doorbell rings and she lets in a somewhat familiar face, she does not recognize her son, Steve (H. John Benjamin). He is there to take her to the new place “that we talked about” in “Familiar Touch.” Films about the elderly and the prospect of dementia take on, to me, a negative view about aging – or, making it the fodder for a horror film, like “The Rule of Jenny Penn (2024)“ with a horrific John Lithgow terrorizing the aged residents in an assisted living facility. Fortunately, first-time feature director Sarah Friedland takes the subject matter seriously and, with “Familiar Touch,” gives a thoughtful look at dementia through the eyes and mind of Ruth, played by the captivating Kathleen Chalfont, who both resents and accepts the new life her son imposed on her. Steve, by the way, is a drop-her-off-at-the-door-and-be-done-with-her type of son who leaves early on and shows up but once – and that is to tell her he is selling her house. Nice guy, tight? No. What makes this a believable work about aging, the elderly and dementia is the film’s locale. Much of it was filmed at Villa Gardens, a Continuing Retirement Care Community in Pasadena California with both residents and staff serving as extras. This gives the film the true organic feel of assisted living, albeit, the Gardens is a big step up for those who have a negative view of assisted living – they even have a pool! Kathleen Chalfont, a “new” face to me, is a marvel as Ruth. She gives a layered performance that, though you know she is not-so-early stage dementia, her lucid, with-it moments are effectively portrayed. At one point, she shows up in the facility’s kitchen and begins preparing breakfast for the residents. Instead of being upset with her, the staff appreciates the mothering she provides. It is a layered performance and always a pleasant surprise, even as reality overwhelms. Having dealt with assisted living for our parents, I was also impressed by those playing the health care staff and some of the residents (especially Carolyn Michelle and Andy McQueen as caregivers and Joahn Webb, as Ruth’s fellow resident and friend, Pearl.) As we get older, the prospect of infirmity and dementia become real possibilities. Sarah Friedland, though, gives us old folk the hope that things might not be so bad. B+ Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/03/25 Full Review GARY D Excuse me for disagreeing with all the goody-two-shoes reviews. This film is unbearably slow, completely uninformative (unless you haven't read even a one-page bad newspaper article about Dementia), and photographed in a mixture of pretentious visual fluff and indifferently framed scenes. Since this movie gets its entire validity from DEMENTIA (all caps) it would have been good for the writer-director to dramatize rather than show simplistically the effects of this serious brain disease. But drama this movie doesn't have. Lack of conflict leads to a surface-y depiction of every character. Too bad the inevitable horrible box office will discourage any more interesting production about Dementia from being made. Credits show (in the slowest crawl ever seen in the history of movies) that the film was shot in Pasadena, CA at a facility which, I happen to know, is filled with former scientists from Cal Tech and JPL. Better to have allowed them to write the script and, given the lack of visual sophistication, direct it. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/29/25 Full Review Read all reviews

Familiar Touch

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now