Title: Touch
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Aleksandra Szczepanowska
Starring: Aleksandra Szczepanowska, Jun Yang, Jiangwei Yuan
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

What It Is: The wife of an aggressive and determined businessman feels alienated from the country she holds dear. A series of strange events lead her to start a secret relationship with a blind masseur that will lead her down an obscure path.

What We Think: First of all, I have to praise Aleksandra Szczepanowska for not just acting/directing this film but making it entirely within China, making her the first Western-Caucasian woman to do so. That is quite an incredible feat! It may sound strange, but one you hear Szczepanowska speak Mandarin, any doubts will quickly fade away.

I enjoyed a lot of things about this film. The premise is quite interesting, mixing romance and thriller in a great way. The concept of having a blind man falling in love with a woman, only to then get disturbingly attached to her after things don’t work out is such a great idea. And for the most part, this film does that idea justice. Szczepanowska gives a great performance as well as Jiangwei Yuan, who is deeply unnerving at times, he creeped me out in some instances through his facial expressions and body language. The scenes between Szczepanowska and Yuan are the best in the film, with one sequence in particular near the end being my favorite.

There are riveting and unique moments, it’s well shot (great coloring and contrast) with some very intricate camera moves that work super well (most of the time), however, there are instances where a handheld camera didn’t quite match the feeling of certain moments, which took me out of the film more than it should’ve. That isn’t to say that the handheld is used badly- during some very intense sequences it’s used quite well.

The soundtrack is pretty good, although again there are some scenes where silence might’ve been the better option in order to really rack up the suspense (meaning in the instances where it’s used in the wrong way it makes the scene a tad underwhelming). Suspenseful sequences are aplenty for sure, and they stay their welcome. I was definitely glued to the screen during those scenes, as they are quite effective in both their presentation and realization. This film has a lot going for it in terms of performances and technicality, something that I look for a lot in indie features, which is fantastic.

However, in terms of the story, I do have some issues. Like I mentioned earlier, the film’s main story about a hidden romance with a blind man who later becomes attached to our main character is a really cool concept. That should’ve been the main focus of the film. There are times where the story derives from that primary idea, and it didn’t really interest me all that much. A certain subplot felt like it wasn’t needed at all. I feel like if the film had stayed on its main story it would’ve been a lot more intriguing, exploring the psychology of both our main character and her secret love interest, fleshing the masseur’s attachment out more, the idea of a blind man being able to creepily “watch” you and your family. It’s still a thoroughly enjoyable experience, the direction is superb and there are some lines of dialogue that stuck with me for sure, but if the film had explored those threads more, this would’ve been one of my favorites of the year!

What We Think: B-, Szczepanowska brings us a riveting (but at times odd) thriller with an interesting and entertaining premise, however, it’s execution is a little hasty. I’d say check this one out if you enjoyed Don’t Breathe, and don’t mind a romantic twist (which is more than welcome)!