the horror/comedy, TOUCH ME, a Rustic Films release. Photo courtesy of
Rustic Films
Trauma does a number on a person — and surprisingly the absurdist psychosexual horror comedy Touch Me does a rather comprehensive job at exploring this as a concept. The film follows a pair of trauma bonded besties – the beautiful and troubled Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) who spent her childhood in the foster care system and her gay trust fund platonic benefactor Craig (Jordan Gavaris). When Craig’s toilet overflows in his house stinking up the joint, the pair are forced to spend the weekend with one of Joey’s exes Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), who recently resurfaced after five years. Brian may seem like simply a super wealthy eccentric tracksuited hip-hip dance enthusiast, but under that glossy facade, he’s a sex-crazed tentacled alien beast that has the ability to alleviate anxiety and calm the mind with his opioid-like touch.
After shacking up with Brian, the pair discover not only that Brian swings both ways, but his visit to our beloved planet may be a bit more sinister than he’s let on and not simply solving global warming. The two begin competing for his favor not just because of their shared insecurities, but his touch that manages to rid both their emotional baggage, if only for a few fleeting moments; which he of course leverages against them. This coupled with sessions where the pair are forced to relinquish and relieve their deepest emotional scars to an alien stone, allows the characters to bare their innermost secrets and origins of their trauma to both Brian and the audience. This all transpires in an opulent mansion with themed rooms, one including an elaborate Japanese outdoor theme.
While comedy here runs pitch black and it’s served up flawlessly, it’s the prickly performances by Olivia and Jordan that make this more than simply a pervy tentacle sex/alien invasion flick. Our protagonists are garbage humans, sure, but the characters are nuanced and relatable enough that you’re allowed to understand that they are simply the sum of their abusive upbringings. The film also explores sexual abuse from the POV of both genders and how that influences their toxic relationships later in life. It’s an odd mix, for sure, but the comedy and sci-fi elements thankfully keep it from getting too dark. This paired with some surreal Kaiju inspired special effects and its high concept premise, offers up one of the strangest films I’ve seen at Sundance in my last five years.
Touch Me is a live action mumblecore hentai, and I mean that with the utmost respect – as a lifelong anime fan. It’s this surreal journey of our two slackers that takes them from vaping on the couch, to fighting alien invaders – that creates a film that is as much “what the fuck?” as it is, “damn that was deep” and that’s not easy. It’s how our two leads use this surreal experience to begin to really have their characters process and thus deal with what got them here that really gives this film some teeth thanks to all these strange pieces that somehow fall into place. Hopefully this film gets a proper release, because as strange as it is, it’s got something somewhat positive to say about facing your trauma and working though whatever is holding you down to better yourself – whether that be a shitty childhood or a sex crazed alien.
