Familiar Touch12A

Directed by Sarah Friedland | USA | 2024 | 1h 32m | Starring Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle, Andy McQueen, H. Jon Benjamin, Rafael Hernandez

Ruth is a retired cook who leaves home one day believing she’s going on a date. The place she arrives at, however, is not a hotel, it’s an assisted living facility. Suddenly surrounded by unfamiliar faces, routines, and surroundings, she must find her way through a world that no longer quite makes sense. Anchored by a superb performance from Kathleen Chalfant, writer-director Sarah Friedland’s debut feature is a compassionate and quietly moving portrait of a woman living with dementia, following the rhythms of her shifting memories and desires with tenderness and care. Winner of the award for Best Feature Debut at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. 

Reviews

‘Friedland, who also wrote the film‘s script, is not given over to histrionics or blaring displays of emotion, instead asking us to follow Ruth and experience the world through her eyes. The impact is profound.’
★★★★
Kate Erbland, IndieWire

‘Because writer-director Sarah Friedland’s debut finds so much depth in its subjective approach to memory loss, it loses much of its stigma and discovers wonder in its place.’
★★★★
Jacob Oliver, The AV Club

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Familiar Touch between July 3, 2026 and July 9, 2026.

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What else is on?

Today (Monday 13th July)

18:00

What We Do in the Shadows 15
1h 25m
Cult mockumentary follows the undead navigating modern life with gloriously incompetent results. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement at their most gloriously funny. Part of the Oxford Comedy Festival 2026.

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20:15

Blue Heron 15
1h 31m
Eight-year-old Sasha's family move to Vancouver Island seeking a fresh start, but her eldest brother increasingly dangerous behaviour casts a long shadow. Sophy Romvari's lyrical feature debut is a deeply felt study of family bonds and the elusive nature of memory.

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Tomorrow (Tuesday 14th July)

17:45

Effi o Blaenau 15
£6 for Members
1h 31m | Welsh w/ English subtitles
In a Welsh town stripped of its pubs and jobs, hard-partying Effi keeps her head just above water. But a chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub offers a glimpse of another life. Leisa Gwenllian is searing in this spikily funny adaptation of Gary Owen's celebrated one-woman play.

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20:00

Disclosure Day 12A
£6 for Members
2h 25m
When a Kansas City meteorologist intercepts an inexplicable alien signal during a live broadcast, she begins to unravel a decades-long government cover-up. Steven Spielberg returns to sci-fi with a summer blockbuster of genuine scale and philosophical weight, led by Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!