We spend the first part of our lives trusting our parents to take care of us. So it can be a rude awakening if the tables are suddenly turned, and we must care for them. For Angie, an embittered thirtysomething aspiring photographer with a day job in a wine tasting room, rudeness is often a key part of the equation. Forced to deal with her mother’s rapidly advancing Alzheimer’s while juggling deadlines for a possible career-making photo exhibition and a parade of wannabe oenophiles spewing pretentious quotes from Sideways, Angie responds with an impatient brew of intolerance and irritation. Short fuses grow even shorter when Angie is obliged to move in with mom until she and her brother Todd can find a facility for her with an appropriate level of care.

Trying to keep an eye on mom — and a lid on her own sanity — Angie turns to her girlfriend Caroline for support and a shoulder to cry on. But Caroline’s sympathies ultimately wear thin, compelling Angie to come to terms with her own self-interest, some unexpected family secrets and the toughest decision of her life.

Shot entirely on location in the Sonoma wine country town of Geyserville, this local debut feature is a bold and full-bodied blend of family drama and biting humor with authentic, heartfelt performances from newcomer Liz Jahren as Angie and two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy-and Tony-winner Shirley Knight as her mother. Like a fine wine, even Angie manages to mellow over time. — JOANNE PARSONT