Touchy Feely review – smart drama about emotional troubles and healing hands

Lynn Shelton's tale of a masseuse who develops an aversion to skin is acted with touching authenticity

Director Lynn Shelton's two previous features, Humpday and Your Sister's Sister, are the kind of smarthouse low-budget films that bridge the gap between mumblecore noodlings and School of Judd Apatow comedies. Her third, Touchy Feely, although often amusing and well-observed as ever, finds her in a more sombre mood as she explores touch as a metaphor for emotional contact. Shelton-regular Rosemarie DeWitt plays Abby, a massage therapist who suddenly develops an aversion to human skin, an obvious manifestation (though not to her) of her anxieties about moving in with her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy). Meanwhile, Abby's uptight dentist brother, Paul (Josh Pais), seems to have developed miraculous healing powers that fill his waiting room with patients, but he struggles to accept the adult needs of his daughter, Jenny (Ellen Page). The semi-improvised dialogue has the juicy tang of authenticity in the hands of this highly competent cast, and the players and Shelton never sneer at the characters' new-agey beliefs. And yet, the algebra of the relationships doesn't quite add up to a satisfying conclusion.

Contributor

Leslie Felperin

The GuardianTramp

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