Written and directed by Justin Burquist, an apathetic police unit brings in a mysterious young woman to help solve a grisly homicide. Starring: Eva Ceja, Randy Davison, Steve Froehlich, Nick Young, Ron Christopher Jones and Jayce Venditti.
There’s a distinctive style that goes along with dark, crime, detective style stories, captured most prominently by Scandinavian cinema and television; it has grit, tension, mystery and that satisfyingly shadowy, violent potential. Touch does a fantastic job of creating that feel, there’s a strong atmosphere right from the start, setting things nicely on edge. That’s then boosted by the understated and very effective score, from Matthew Gradala. As well as a great use of colouring and shifting tones from cinematographer Ray Gallardo, which is well paired with Justin Burquist’s direction which has a curiously wandering note that draws you in easily.
Another element that really strongly pulls you into Touch is the performance from Eva Ceja. She does a wonderful job of straight away communicating the conflict, fear and complexity to her character, Carmen. A factor which you can appreciate even more for the fact that the dialogue is minimal and all of that emotion is being mostly translated through her physicality and facial cues. There’s a great trepidation to the way that she moves, clearly showing how being disillusioned to violence, doesn’t make it any easier to watch. As well as hitting upon notes of isolation and being an outcast.
Burquist’s writing creates a solid, familiar yet new story which is easy and engaging to follow. The use of past and present moves really well, especially with a great use of pacing. The progression is slow but doesn’t feel it, it follows an intentionally gradual and unfolding path. It does perhaps feel like it’s ending a little bit early so we’re not getting the entirety of the story, but it does still work perfectly well on its own.
Touch is a captivating, mysterious blend of crime thriller and horror. There’s a superb atmosphere and use of colour which do a great job of capturing the darkness and tension to the story. It’s led by a terrific performance from Eva Ceja, who manages to create an impressively complicated persona for Carmen, in a very short amount of time. It’s a gripping story on its own but it feels like an introduction for more to come, or at least you’ll definitely hope for more when the credits roll.
FilmCarnage.com 