There’s already a dearth of movies foregrounding the experiences of those squarely in the middle of old age. Fewer and farther between are the films depicting the experiences of people living with dementia, a disease that’s naturally always been a seldom-engaged-with topic in a cinematic landscape overwhelmingly preferencing more escapist subject matter.

With her debut feature, Familiar Touch, you can feel writer-director Sarah Friedland’s determination to assuage notions of a dementia-concerned film — others in its camp include The Savages (2007), Away from Her (2007), Still Alice (2014), and The Father (2021) — being a thoroughly depressing affair. It’s an emotional movie, but it’s also generous with scenes tacitly arguing that a diagnosis does not comprehensively void a life of its breakthroughs of joy and humor, offering a nuanced glimpse of a reality from which most people would understandably prefer to look away unless they have to.

Read the full review at South Sound.

Image credit: Music Box Films.