The Maryland Film Festival ran from May 8-12, featuring over 50 feature length films and 75 short films. This yearly festival shows films primarily at The Charles Theatre in Baltimore along with other local screens. Feel free to check out the link for the full listing of films. I was fortunate enough to catch three titles (even though I wish I had the chance to see many more). Since these three films won’t be out in theaters for awhile, I’ll give you a little preview here.
Touchy Feely is a film written and directed by Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister, Humpday). It centers on a brother and sister living in Seattle. Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) is a massage therapist about to move in with her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy), when she suddenly develops an inexplicable aversion to touch. She can’t stand to even touch skin and has to temporarily stop her business and figure out how to handle her relationship. Her brother Paul (Josh Pais) is a single father who runs a failing dentist practice with his daughter Jenny (Ellen Page). He’s a really awkward guy who can’t find a way to function normally but things perk up when he seems to suddenly have the ability to ease jaw pain in patients, filling up his appointment book with new clients. Jenny struggles to stay at her dad’s side because she knows he needs her, but silently urges to break out of her confining life.
This movie is at its core a slice of life story about family dynamics, but it also explores thematically how people deal with big life changes and how to vividly experience life. Abby’s storyline is more about an open person reverting back into their shell, while Paul (and Jenny by extension) come out of their shell. It’s a pretty simplistic movie, so while I enjoyed it there wasn’t a very strong impression coming out of it. I don’t think it’s necessary that all movies do that but it does make it a less memorable feature.
After the film ended star Josh Pais shared some of his experiences with the film in a Q&A. He described who about a quarter of the movie was improvised but they also did some behind the scenes improvisational work. For instance, Paul’s wife’s lack of presence is never mentioned. Shelton didn’t include it in the script but Pais and her worked through it together to get a good handle on his character. He imagined that she deserted him and that rejection is what really debilitated him socially and made him so dependent on Jenny. Tomo Nakayama plays a small part in the film as a patient of Paul’s who is able to perform music again now that his jaw pain has been relieved. During the film you get to see him perform a very lovely song. Pais explained that Tomo is a real musician and lead singer for the band Grand Hallway. Honestly, this Q&A could have been a bit more fruitful if Shelton was there because the movie is ripe for discussion on the themes, but it was still fun to chat with Pais.
Touchy Feely will be distributed in theaters by Magnolia starting September 6.