Touch (Icelandic: Snerting) is a 2024 romantic drama film directed by Baltasar Kormákur, written by Baltasar and Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, and starring Egill Ólafsson, Kōki, and Palmi Kormakur. The film is based on Ólafur's 2022 novel of the same name. It is an international co-production between Iceland, United States, and United Kingdom.
Touch was released in Iceland on 29 May 2024. It was chosen as the Icelandic entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards, and made the top 15 shortlist, but was ultimately not nominated.
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Plot
In the late 1960s, Kristófer is a young Icelandic man studying at the London School of Economics, but his left-wing beliefs put him at odds with the school administration. After being mocked by his college friends for saying he would drop out, Kristófer impulsively applies to be a dishwasher at Nippon, a Japanese restaurant owned by chef Takahashi, where he meets and falls in love with Miko, Takahashi's daughter.
Kristófer learns Japanese and works hard at Nippon, earning the trust of Takahashi and Miko. He witnesses Takahashi forcibly break up a relationship between Miko and her boyfriend. Takahashi trains Kristófer as a chef and lets him come in early to practice. As Miko visits Kristófer to taste his cooking, they grow closer and start a relationship, unbeknownst to Takahashi. Miko confides in Kristófer that her family was originally from Hiroshima, and her mother was pregnant with her at the time of the bombing. Facing discrimination back home as 'Hibakusha', they moved to England.
