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Home - Movies - Touch (2024) – Review

Touch (2024) – Review

In the adaptation of Olaf Olafsson’s hit book, “Touch,” we witness a tear-inducing story of an old man trying to reunite with the woman who got away decades prior.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted onJuly 13, 2024 7:43 AMJuly 13, 2024 7:44 AM
Palmi Kormakur as Young Kristofer and Koki as Young Miko their hands touch

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.


Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.


  • Plot Summary
    • Noted Cast and Characters Of "Touch"
      • Kristofer
      • Miko
      • Takahashi
    • Content Information
  • Review
    • Highlights
      • The Older and Younger Versions Compliment Each Other
      • The Ending May Make You Cry
      • How It Brings Miko and Her Father's Culture Into The Story
    • On The Fence
      • Any Curiosity About Kristofer's Life Outside Of Miko Won't Be Satiated
  • General Information

Plot Summary

In his old age, Kristofer is starting to deal with the effects of aging, and while he still has his wits, he decides to find his long-lost love, Miko, with the time he has left. It has been decades since they saw each other in London, but with only an adopted daughter and the threat of the COVID-19 outbreak to slow him down, Kristofer travels the world to find the woman to whom he gave his heart in his 20s.

Noted Cast and Characters Of “Touch”

Palmi Kormakur as Young Kristofer and Koki as Young Miko
Egill Olafsson as Older Kristofer
Koki as Young Miko
Masahiro Motoki as Takahashi
Palmi Kormakur as Young Kristofer and Koki as Young Miko
Egill Olafsson as Older Kristofer
Koki as Young Miko
Masahiro Motoki as Takahashi
Character’s NameActor’s Name
Older KristoferEgill Ólafsson
Younger KristoferPalmi Kormákur
Older MikoYôko Narahashi
Younger MikoKôki
TakahashiMasahiro Motoki

Kristofer

At one time, Kristofer was a rebel. He tried the expected, traditional route of college, but dealing with an administration that was immoral in his eyes led to him quitting school. Thankfully, he soon arrives at a Japanese restaurant looking for a dishwasher named Nippon. There, he finds his passion for cooking, as well as for the owner’s daughter.

Miko

Miko is the daughter of Takahashi, who owns Nippon and doesn’t aspire to inherit her father’s shop but instead tries to enjoy her studies and work with children later in life.

Takahashi

Takahashi is a widow from Japan who left his country behind after the bombing of Hiroshima for a fresh start in London.

Content Information

  • Dialog: Cursing
  • Violence: N/A
  • Sexual Content: Sexual Situations (Implied)
  • Miscellaneous: Drinking, Smoking

Review

Our Rating: Positive (Worth Seeing)

Who Is This For?

  • Fans of time-spanning romances

Check out our movies page for our latest movie reviews and recommendations.

Highlights

The Older and Younger Versions Compliment Each Other

Whenever a movie time jumps between two different periods of a character’s life, it presents a challenge. How do you keep viewers interested in both the younger counterpart, who is working on the foundation for the character, and the older version, who shows the long-term effects of the younger version’s work? “Touch” does this by making them compliment each other.

Why should you invest in Kristofer, as an older man searching for this woman? Because of the love story you see with the younger counterparts. It helps you understand why he travels 1000s of miles by plane to multiple countries at the start of the pandemic. It’s all in the hopes that, once again, he can see the woman who was his true love.

The Ending May Make You Cry

I’m going to sidestep the specifics, but I will say the ending will make you cry as certain information is revealed. It may not make you cry to the point of questioning if you drink enough water, but for those who like movies similar to this, tears will likely fall from both eyes.

How It Brings Miko and Her Father’s Culture Into The Story

It could be very easy to imagine, despite Miko’s father, Takahashi, being Japanese and Kristofer and Miko working in his Japanese restaurant, that we’d get the aesthetics but not a sense of culture. That isn’t how “Touch” operates. Japanese is spoken throughout, while Takahashi is skittish about talking about the past; Miko shows artwork from her mother and talks about their lives in Hiroshima and how the culture shifted after the bombs dropped.

I’d even say, as an American, this was probably one of the few movies I’ve ever saw in theaters that didn’t justify the bombing but instead focused on the civilians who suffered. Heck, a part of me almost sees Kristofer as a Trojan Horse to tell Miko’s story and that of Japanese people.

On The Fence

Any Curiosity About Kristofer’s Life Outside Of Miko Won’t Be Satiated

Kristofer’s life doesn’t end and begin with Miko, but it is the focus of “Touch.” However, it does skirt around other parts of his life as well. We learn he was married for decades, and while the marriage may not have lit a fire in him, like his relationship with Miko, it does exist. However, we see his wife maybe in a handful of scenes and don’t learn much about her, how Kristofer met her, or what led to them getting married.

Heck, he even has a stepdaughter who calls him “Dad,” yet we don’t see her face; we just hear her voice. And honestly, at times, it seems he is annoyed by her existence as if she is part of his settlement deal with life, and he longs to figure out a way to break that contract.

General Information

Film Length2 Hours 1 Minute
Date ReleasedJuly 12, 2024
How To WatchOfficial Site
DistributorFocus Features
Director(s)Baltasar Kormákur
Writer(s)Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson
Based On Work ByOlaf Olafsson
Genre(s)Adventure, Romance, Young Adult, Elder, Non-English (Japanese), Non-English (Icelandic), Historical
Content RatingRated R

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Touch (2024) – Review

Summary

“Touch” not only delivers a believable but butterfly-inducing romance but also acknowledges Kristofer’s love interest, Miko, being more than just the girl he has a crush on. By exploring her and her father’s Japanese culture and origins and making it more than superficial dressing, it brings you a fleshed-out human being who you too could fall for. Ultimately leading to “Touch” delivering an enviable love story in which the female love interest has a life beyond what the male interest imagines for her or about her.

Overall
82%
82%
  • The Older and Younger Versions Compliment Each Other - 74%
    74%
  • The Ending May Make You Cry - 85%
    85%
  • The Older and Younger Versions Compliment Each Other - 84.5%
    85%
  • How It Brings Miko and Her Father’s Culture Into The Story - 84%
    84%
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User Review
0/100 (0 votes)

Pros

  • How It Brings Miko and Her Father’s Culture Into The Story
  • The Ending May Make You Cry
  • The Older and Younger Versions Compliment Each Other

Cons

  • Any Curiosity About Kristofer’s Life Outside Of Miko Won’t Be Satiated

Listed Under Categories: Movies, Positive (Worth Seeing), Reviews

Related Tags: Adventure, Baltasar Kormákur, Egill Ólafsson, Elder, Historical, Kôki, Masahiro Motoki, Non-English (Icelandic), Non-English (Japanese), Olaf Olafsson, Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Palmi Kormákur, Rated R, Romance, Yôko Narahashi, Young Adult

Amari Allah

Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.

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