Based on the Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson book of the same name, Touch, an Icelandic film from director Baltasar Kormákur perfectly scratches the same itch that Past Lives did last year. It’s a tender and beautiful film about human connection, longing, and the different paths lives take. This is a movie that takes a decades-spanning story of love and manages to turn it into something profoundly beautiful that will be felt by everyone viewing it.
Kristófer is a widower at the start of the COVID pandemic who decides to embark on a journey to find his long-lost love from fifty years prior in England. This movie takes us on this journey while also using flashbacks to show us the events that led to his former love’s disappearance in his youth. It’s such a simple framework for a story, but it’s one that proves itself to be more layered and nuanced as the plot progresses.
Written by Kormákur, this movie boasts a relatable story with universal themes. It has some great dialogue that flows naturally and helps develop the main relationships featured in the movie. While there are times where it can feel a little bloated, it’s hard to deny how infectiously charming its story is. Even though the movie shows its hands from the start, it’s very interesting to see how everything plays out, and this allows it to creep up on you emotionally for a final act gut punch.
The acting in this movie is also great. Egill Ólafsson and Palmi Kormákur lead the film as old and young Kristófer respectively. They both play the role well even though they’re given radically different scenes to work with. The present-day scenes are my subdued whereas the past scenes have a more optimistic and youthful energy to them. The movie is also elevated by the actresses who play his love interest Miko. The rest of the actors fit neatly within the subtle and natural world that the director creates.
Despite being a little long at times, you find yourself immersed in the relationship of these two doomed lovers. It’s sweet and emotional, but it actually surprises you with some of the turns the story takes. Since Miko is Japanese, the story does consider how that would impact her story in this time period and within her family’s culture and beliefs. This culminates in a painfully bittersweet final act that perfectly caps off a captivating romance across time. In addition to this, one of the highlights of the film is certainly the cinematography of Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson. From start to finish, this movie is visually stunning with some of the best composed shots of the year.
Touch is a very special movie. Stories of human connection are nothing new, and while this movie doesn’t try and reinvent the wheel, it certainly impresses with its carefully crafted story of longing and memory. For those aching for more bittersweet cinema after last year’s Past Lives, this is for you.
Touch is in theaters July 12.
Rating: 4.5/5
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