‘Touch Me’ Director Previews His Alien Throuple Comedy, From Tentacle Sex to Hip-Hop Dance Sequences — Sundance

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It’s surprising that a film as unconventional as “Touch Me,” which debuts on Tuesday within Sundance‘s Midnight lineup, might have autobiographical elements. Given its synopsis – two friends become addicted to an alien’s heroin-like touch and form a threesome with him – it barely hints at the genre-blending horror-comedy that this movie offers. However, the film holds deep personal significance for writer-director Addison Heimann.

He mentions that the film is inspired by his own experiences. At the time when they started making the movie, he was dealing with a deeply painful friendship ending. He finds it surprising how emotionally draining friendships can be, just as romances often are.”

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“The movie is a reflection of his life, he explains. When they began filming, he was going through an extremely difficult breakup in a friendship. It’s unexpected how much emotional toll friendships can take, similar to the impact that romantic relationships can have on us.

Later on, the characters of Craig (Jordan Gavaris) and Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley), representing Heimann and his former best friend, respectively, came into being. These two characters, who lean on each other heavily, may not always inspire each other to reach their full potential, a dynamic that Heimann recognized.

During that time, I found myself thinking, ‘I blame her, and I’ll investigate as if it’s my own fault,'” he explains. “Craig represents the self-loathing part of me. Being afflicted with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I’m fixated on being good, while being considered bad is my greatest fear. This is how unhealthy friendships can form. One of the things you shouldn’t do when dealing with OCD is seek validation from others. The more validation you seek, the less effective it becomes, and the more anxious you become. So that’s essentially Craig’s way of operating. All he desires is reassurance that he’s a good person. I combined these two characters and placed them in a world where there’s an alien who embodies that person we all know, who draws you in and makes situations worse.

The character found inspiration following the 2016 Mexican film “The Untamed,” where individuals experience intense pleasure with an extraterrestrial being. He was intrigued by the concept, particularly its potential to help manage his OCD symptoms. This sparked the creation of Brian, portrayed by Lou Taylor Pucci, who appears as a modern spiritual guide in athletic wear. Depending on the scene, Brian can be naive, manipulative, detached, romantic, cruel, and even self-pitying.

As a fan, I’d express it like this: “I find Brian the hardest character to portray, as he’s an alien with 18 distinct aspects. Joey and Craig are more relatable, being human and down-to-earth. But Brian… well, he’s complex! We eventually agreed that he’s childlike in nature, yet truthful. And that’s the conundrum of narcissism.

In crafting the screenplay, Heimann seamlessly integrated those concepts while paying homage to numerous works of Japanese cinema from the ’60s and ’70s, such as “Lady Snowblood” (1973) and “Sex & Fury.” Additionally, there are several erotic tentacle scenes, a rarity in live-action productions for American audiences. However, Heimann had a distinctive vision to style these scenes effectively within an independent budget.

He explains that they invested heavily in practical effects because they wanted them to look authentic. Additionally, he intentionally chose a practical style for these effects, meaning fewer visual effects were required later on. The alien, for instance, is a two-foot puppet that was digitally inserted, but creatively this choice enhances the film’s overall feel. If you’re making a movie about alien encounters, it’s important to make the alien tangible and interactive. By balancing practicality with a stylistic approach, they were able to keep costs low.

As a movie enthusiast, I found myself captivated by the intriguing blend of sensuality and homage to traditional Japanese cinema in “Touch Me”. However, what truly surprised me was the incorporation of dance sequences reminiscent of the ’80s hip-hop era. The protagonist, Brian, has a profound fascination with dance, and as director Heimann points out, these dance scenes offer a unique window into Brian’s character and his role within this unconventional trio.

He describes the concept as if an alien might perceive a human. This character speaks in a peculiar, formal manner, wears tracksuits, and performs hip-hop dance moves. It seems like he modeled his entire persona on ’80s MTV, which is intriguing. The origin of this character is rooted in the depiction of drugs like heroin or Xanax, as well as our collective experiences with toxic narcissists.

Following the creation of such an imaginative and turbulent world, Heimann explains that now that the project is complete, he can empathize in a distinctly human way with the disintegrating friendship that served as the inspiration for the movie’s concept.

In crafting this film, I intentionally approached it as if I were delving into her viewpoint, giving the impression that I was somehow to blame. However, I believe the truth lies somewhere else: neither party is solely at fault, yet we all contribute in some way. People are complex entities who err, and these mistakes don’t define their inherent goodness or badness – they’re simply human. There’s no malice, no hatred here. We’ve moved past that phase where we were deeply entwined with each other, but the memories of that time still linger. The pain that comes from our separation is valid and acceptable. It’s a part of our shared history, one that may be difficult to navigate, but it doesn’t make either of us bad people. We can learn, grow, and move forward from this experience.

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2025-01-28 19:17