“Familiar Touch” captures the loneliness of forgetting coupled with the joy of rediscovering what it means to feel alive. The drama, which is written and directed by Sarah Friedland, became a critical hit after it premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival where it was later acquired by Music Box Films.

“Familiar Touch” stars Tony Award nominee Kathleen Chalfant as Ruth Goldman, an older woman with dementia who realizes that her “hotel” is actually an assisted living facility. Of course, this realization happens once she is about to go on a date.

The official synopsis reads: “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...