©Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival
There are plenty of theories about the existence of extraterrestrial life, and theatrical first contact experiences like the one depicted in Star Trek are hardly the only way in which humanity could become aware of them. Touch Me offers a truly unique method of undeniable confirmation for one human that aliens are in fact real when he watches a graphic sex tape of his roommate and a tentacled being, a curious but fitting introduction to a deeply committed, truly weird, and surprisingly resounding movie.
This film opens on Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) talking without any pauses to her therapist, explaining how she met a mysterious man named Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci) wearing a tracksuit and coming to the logical conclusion that he must be an alien. By the end of her story, it’s clear that he was indeed an alien, and in the course of their physical union, he, apparently unintentionally, hurt her. When literal feces come pouring out of the toilet in the home shared by Joey and her friend Chris (Jordan Gavaris), racking up a $10,000 repair bill, Joey makes the difficult decision to travel to Brian’s lavish home with Chris in tow, wary of falling back under his spell but desperate for the healing touch he offers that makes all her worries disappear even just for a short while.
This film contains a lot of crazy ideas and opts to indulge all of them. It’s an effective approach, leading to a delirious story that sometimes feels like it’s too fantastical to be believed and at others feels remarkably grounded. Brian is both charming and terrifying, spending his mornings feverishly dancing as a way of meditating, and he exerts an incredible influence over all in his orbit, including his loyal assistant Laura (Marlene Forte), whose obedience feels more militant while Joey and Chris are instead hypnotized by Brian’s apparent beauty and the very palpable serenity he’s able to transmit to them whenever he wishes.
On its surface, this film is a sci-fi/horror-tinged comedy in the vein of Save Yourselves! or Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss, more than eager to lean into the visually amusing depictions of aliens and their sensibilities. But there’s something bubbling just underneath all the silliness indicated by how Joey acts, which is a deep sense of trauma that she has endured, and which Brian has gaslit her into believing was just a need to be calmed by his touch. His continued reminders of their wonderful “cross-species intercourse” feel like a deliberate attempt to subvert her feelings and emotional wellbeing, and to hide the fact that their relationship is toxic since she never fully consented to the power dynamic they have.
As Touch Me explores those themes and the attraction that Joey can’t dismiss to this man who didn’t ultimately treat her well, it leans into the friendship between Joey and Chris, which is based in part on a shared sense of laziness and lack of motivation. Gavaris, best known for portraying Felix with an impeccable British accent on Orphan Black, is having a blast, and because Chris isn’t suffering from the same trauma that Joey is, he’s able to look at the situation from a less serious perspective, trying to temper his own immutable attraction to this magnetic alien. Pucci and Forte respond exceptionally well to the challenging nature of portraying their characters, making them over-the-top yet somehow believable. Dudley commands the screen with an uncertain sense of self from that very first scene, and she’s a fantastic lead.
Touch Me is the second feature film from writer-director Addison Heimann, who creates something that is decidedly weird and entertaining but also has a strong sense of what it wants to be. At times, that’s sillier than others, but the film’s visuals enhance the viewing experience, using simple settings filled with extraordinary additions to make it dazzling and captivating, helping to explain why Joey can’t fully pull herself away from this enigmatic figure. Buried underneath the clever, creative, and legitimately interesting story is an important reminder that taking care of yourself is important, and looking out for your best friend is just as critical, no matter who attractive any aliens may be.
Grade: B+
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Touch Me makes its world premiere in the Midnight section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.