Familiar Touch (12) at South Hill Park
Tue 13 Oct
|South Hill Park Arts Centre
A precise, funny and acutely moving portrait of a woman adjusting to assisted living - VARIETY
Time & Location
13 Oct 2026, 19:30
South Hill Park Arts Centre, Ringmead, Bracknell RG12 7PA, UK
About the Event
Directed by Sarah Friedland | Drama | 92 mins | USA | 2025
Kathleen Chalfont, Carolyn Michelle Smith, Andy McQueen.
A retired cook, Ruth prepares food in her kitchen. It’s a dish she’s made many times before, but puzzling errors now punctuate her routine. When her son arrives, she mistakes him for a suitor and when their “date” takes them to an assisted living facility, Ruth feels certain she doesn’t belong. Surrounded by caregivers, she must come to terms with daily routines, moment-to-moment negotiations and a changing self-identity.
There’s a profound tenderness in Sarah Friedland’s affecting first feature and a rare empathy: crucially, we observe Ruth’s experiences predominantly through her own eyes rather than those around her. It’s a decision that affords her a degree of respect, which is all too frequently missing when it comes to depictions of the elderly – Wendy Ide, SCREEN DAILY