Anchored by standout performances from Broadway doyenne Kathleen Chalfant and gravel-voiced comedian H. Jon Benjamin, Sarah Friedland’s feature debut Familiar Touch (2024) uses the grammar of intimacy, gesture, and wry humor to explore the nature of memory and mortality. Described by Friedland as “a coming-of-(old)-age-film,” this thoughtful portrait—tenderly photographed by cinematographer Gabe Elder—unfolds like a jewel-box miniature, revealing fine detail after fine detail with each act.
As the octogenarian Ruth, Chalfant performs her duties with acrobatic mastery, veering between saucy lucidity and twilight-eyed obscurity at a steady clip. In vignette-ish interactions with her caretakers or fellow residents—including one especially memorable scene with a VR-headset demo—Chalfant and Friedland show us a woman adapting her held-fast autonomy to a series of new routines and restrictions. One of the more familiar faces in Familiar Touch, Benjamin’s turn as son Steve introduces audiences to a fresh shade of the comedian’s trademark deadpan persona. Tasked with determining the long-term care of his aging mother, Steve’s frustrations and fears mirror our own anxieties about the role reversals between parent and child that define one’s golden years.
Unflinching and unafraid, Friedland invites viewers to approach, rather than retreat, as Ruth’s capacity diminishes on screen. By cultivating a contrast between languid, everyday bodily movements and rigorous framing, director and star maintain our intimate connection with Ruth as she navigates the wilderness of memory. Drawing from her own experience as an elder care companion, and her well-established bona fides as a dancer-documentarian, Friedland distills, but never reduces, the rich and wondrous life of her heroine. Sensory cues break the “spell” and bring Ruth’s mind into sharp focus, illuminating her own history in the process. An expert cook, Ruth awakens in the kitchen, taking it upon herself to elevate the facility cuisine into something more palatable (and visually appealing). During an appointment with her doctor, she recites a cherished family Borscht recipe—fans will recognize the Moosewood Cookbook variant—as proof of her mental agility. Under Friedland’s expert direction, these weighted and often fraught moments metabolize scenes of sadness to something approaching celebration: for possibility in the face of finality and life in the face of death.
Familiar Touch opens at Film Forum on June 20. Director Sarah Friedland, alongside stars Kathleen Chalfant and H. Jon Benjamin, will be in attendance for a series of Q&As from June 20-22.
