Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world. Writer and director Addison Heimann’s second feature film is provocatively comedic, inventive, and insane in the best possible way. An ode to the deliriously stylistic lens of Japanese cinema in the ’60s and ’70s, Touch Me dares to “go there” with its themes of mental health, desire, and Hentai-infused sexual abandon. Olivia Taylor Dudley sinks into character to portray a fractured and wandering human being in desperate need of a life-affirming touch, while Lou Taylor-Pucci’s tracksuit-clad alien persona is played to delightful perfection. Jordan Gavaris and Marlene Forte round out an impeccable cast of far-out characters who manage to be at once acrimonious yet relatable. The end result is a weird, wild, and frenzied fever dream with so much to unpack. While we may not be able to relieve ourselves of self-doubt, deep-seated childhood trauma, and debilitating anxiety with the simple touch of an extraterrestrial being, maybe life isn’t so bad after all?
