Familiar Touch review – Kathleen Chalfant is wonderful in subtle, sensual memory loss drama

Director Sarah Friedland brings impressive attention to detail to an audacious debut feature about a woman moved into a retirement community

Profoundly tender and yet untainted by the slightest trace of sentiment, this intimate and frankly sensual drama follows elderly Ruth (American stage icon Kathleen Chalfant) as she adjusts to a major change in circumstances. Told with an audacious economy that unveils key details only when absolutely necessary, the film hints at what’s going on when Ruth treats the washing up rack like a toast caddy.

Minutes later, a middle-aged man named Steve (H Jon Benjamin), with whom Ruth slyly flirts at first until he reveals he’s already married, arrives at her home to take her to her new home in a retirement community. When the staff there refer to Steve as Ruth’s son, the reveal is as shocking to her as it is to us.