The last two nights of the Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) featured two touching family dramas that will resonate with any viewer. “Familiar Touch” premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, while “A Little Prayer” premiered two years ago at Sundance. How they will fare once they get released will likely depend on when they’ll be released and what the marketing will be like for each film. It’s getting harder and harder for character-driven independent films to find an audience with so many blockbusters perpetuating IP material or horror movies. However, I’m hopeful there is still an audience for touching adult dramas that capture relatable subject matter with an observant and conscientious approach.
Below are my thoughts on these two notable films:
FAMILIAR TOUCH
There aren’t many films that deal with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, and there should be more. Watching writer/director Sarah Friedland’s “Familiar Touch” reminded me of this and how it’s a subject we will all eventually encounter. The focus here is on Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), an octogenarian residing in Southern California who, like so many who suffer from dementia, doesn’t realize her condition nor the extent of it. Therefore, Ruth doesn’t understand that it’s time for her to transition to an assisted living facility. The film opens with a touching and tender moment when fifty-something son, Steve (a wonderful atypical role for H. Jon Benjamin), arrives to move her into an assisted living facility.
Since she doesn’t recognize her son, it doesn’t make sense. She thinks Steve is there to take her out on a date. It’s a revealing and tender scene that speaks volumes, and Chalfant expertly conveys the disorienting confusion Ruth experiences. Friedland’s opening easily and effortlessly gets us involved in the intricacies of these characters without providing much context, and that’s no small feat.
Friedland subverts expectations throughout, but the most refreshing approach is probably how the professionals at the facility treat Ruth. So many times, we hear stories of elder abuse coming out of these facilities, and it’s often portrayed that way in movies as well. Thankfully, the staff who encounter Ruth treat her as a person with a heart and soul, even if her mind is failing, because that’s how they see her. Her nurse, Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle Smith), and her physician, Brian (Andy McQueen), are patient with Ruth, allowing her space and time to take in her new situation in life. Their interactions feel authentic, free from the clichés usually present in this kind of story. They see that Ruth still has specific skills intact – there’s a great scene where she enters the facility’s kitchen, puts on an apron, and starts slicing up fruit, because that’s what she knows. She still wants to feel useful, and the staff patiently plays along and allows her to be in the moment with her skill set.
“Familiar Touch” is populated with many residents of the specific Pasadena care facility that Friedland was able to use for much of the movie’s setting, but the four main characters are professional actors. Most of the time each of these actors speaks volumes without uttering a single word. Friedland smartly captures these moments with a respect and appreciation for who these people are as individuals and their impact on others.
RATING: ***
A LITTLE PRAYER
After premiering at Sundance two years ago, Angus MacLachlan’s “A Little Prayer” is finally getting seen by a wider audience. It’s an observant family drama from the writer of 2005’s “Junebug” (which launched Amy Adams’ career) that feels like it could be a first cousin to that story since both revolve around families in North Carolina. Filled with performances that hit the right notes, “A Little Prayer” is a reminder that films that offer space for authentic, lived-in characters are easy to get involved in.
Vietnam veteran Bill (David Strathairn) is a well-known figure in Winston-Salem, where he has resided with his wife, Venida (Celia Weston), for decades. Bill is a kind-hearted man who’s made room in the guest house for his son, David (Will Pullen), and wife, Tammy (Jane Levy), but he’s concerned about his son’s behavior after returning from a tour of duty. Bill’s daughter, Patti (Anna Camp), unexpectedly arrives with her daughter Hadley (Billie Roy) in tow, after leaving her opioid-addicted husband, Cassius, for the third time. He’s at a loss as to how to help his children, and his concern and heartbreak consume him, if not for the kindred spirit he’s found in Tammy.
Although David works at a nearby company that Bill owns, his father doesn’t honestly know what kind of man he is. It’s hinted at that David came back from his tour of duty with PTSD, and his volatility is impacting everyone around him. Bill tries to connect with his son and get him to open up, but David has no interest. MacLachlan’s screenplay gives us just enough to go on to lead us to believe that it may have taken Bill a while to appreciate the value of being open, getting involved in a community, and maintaining friendships, things he’s aware David needs. This military family didn’t have a culture of openness and vulnerability, which resulted in David and Patti winding up as stunted adults, and it breaks Bill’s heart. “A Little Prayer” taps into something every parent has to contend with at some point: whether or not your kid is a good person. It’s also the realization that if they’re not good, it’s not necessarily your fault.
Strathairn and Levy are the heart of “A Little Prayer,” and their scenes together are some of the best of the film. Not only do these two characters care for each other in a tender and heartfelt way that we haven’t seen an in-law relationship play out on screen, but MacLachlan cares for them as well. After premiering in 2023 at Sundance, “A Little Prayer” went through some distribution drama and was only recently secured distribution with Music Box Films. Hopefully, this gem will find its way to theaters in the States sometime this year.