Ruth Goldman (Kathleen Chalfant), an older woman with dementia, leaves her home for a date. But what she thinks is a hotel turns out to be an assisted living facility, and she must contend with an array of new faces, routines, and surroundings as her own identities and desires shift.
While Ruth resists identifying with her aging neighbors, she connects with the care workers there (Carolyn Michelle and Andy McQueen) and is drawn towards her son (H. Jon Benjamin), whom she mistakes for a suitor. A former cook, Ruth finds agency preparing meals in the facility kitchen. She slides into younger selves as she embraces the sensory experiences of the community’s activities and daily life. But when the reality of her situation sinks in, Ruth feels betrayed and flees the facility in search of something familiar.
Inspired by writer/director Sarah Friedland‘s work as a memory care worker and teaching artist to older adults, FAMILIAR TOUCH is an intergenerational production made in collaboration with the residents and care workers at a Los Angeles retirement community. The groundbreaking coming-of-old-age narrative is rooted in Ruth’s perspective – underscoring how, even as Ruth’s world transforms, she remains herself.
"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
"There is great emotional heft to a relatively simple film, and a dignity and empathy afforded to dementia patients that feels astonishingly rare on-screen, where sensationalism tends to bring the house down."
Hannah Strong
Little White Lies
"What Friedland keenly understands is the power of what’s unsaid, how memories can tie themselves to sound, smell, and touch too, and how sometimes those are the last to go."
Brian Tallerico
RogerEbert.com