Addison Heimann's 'Touch Me', premiering at Sundance 2023, blends sci-fi, horror, and comedy in a story about an alien offering euphoric physical touch, leading two humans down a dark path. The film's cast discusses the challenges of the practical effects and the deeper themes explored in this unique cinematic experience.
This year's Sundance Film Festival has delivered some of the event's wildest movies yet, and Touch Me is certainly high on this year's list. The movie hails from writer/director Addison Heimann , making his return after the similarly off-kilter horror-drama Hypochondriac, led by American Horror Story: 1984's Zach Villa, which also enjoyed a run through multiple major festivals, including Fantasia and SXSW.
When it came to landing the idea for his next project, Heimann pulled from a very personal place to pen Touch Me's script, while also looking to the acclaimed Mexican horror movie The Untamed. Touch Me centers on Joey, a woman who claims to have escaped a toxic relationship with an alien posing as a human years ago and having since relied on living with her codependent best friend, Craig. When the alien, Brian, resurfaces in her life and offers both her and Craig his heroin-like physical touch, they find themselves so blinded by their desires that they begin falling deeper into his darker plans. The Magicians alum Olivia Taylor Dudley leads the Touch Me cast alongside Orphan Black's Jordan Gavaris, Physical's Lou Taylor Pucci and Monsters' Marlene Forte. In honor of the movie's Sundance Film Festival premiere, ScreenRant sat down for a group interview with Olivia Taylor Dudley, Jordan Gavaris, Addison Heimann, Lou Taylor Pucci and Marlene Forte to discuss Touch Me. The writer/director reflected on the source of the movie's concept, as well as the various genre influences he pulled from for the film. The cast, meanwhile, share what drew them to the wild project, as well as the intricacies of their characters and working with the practical effects of the movie. Heimann Had An Interesting Mix Of Sources With the movie being a wild mix of sci-fi, horror and comedy, Heimann certainly didn't look at just one place for the concept behind Touch Me. The writer/director first pulled from a very personal place of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder for the movie's script and characters, while also watching an acclaimed Mexican horror movie and humorously expressing his desire to be part of its world. 'Absolutely. So depression, don't we love it? But basically, I was depressed, I suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and I watched this movie called The Untamed, which is a Mexican horror movie about an alien who was this God-like creature that f--ks people. It's euphoric. And I was like, I want that. I want to go there. And I've been learning Japanese for five years, and I am really obsessed with pink films, exploitation films of the '60s and '70s from Japan. And so wanting to explore this idea of what would it be like if you could get your anxiety and depression zapped away from you under this wild, tentacle sex euphoria combined with that kind of whisper for Touch Me?' Touch Me's Practical Effects Were 'Slimy' & 'Beautiful' 'The idea of those scenes are way more fun than actually shooting them.' Heimann certainly leans into the absurd nature of his premise by having his alien, Pucci's Brian, sleep with both Dudley's Joey and Gavaris' Craig, though goes a step further by having it be via tentacles. When it came to filming those scenes, the entire cast acknowledged that the filming of those scenes provided a'slimy' yet'beautiful' challenge for them, particularly for Gavaris, who was making his horror genre debut in the film, whereas Pucci had previous experience with 2013's Evil Dead and Dudley on everything from Chillerama to Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls: 'It was slimy. Addison Heimann: Jordan's so Canadian. He's like,'I'm having a good time. I'm having a good time.' Marlene Forte: The idea of those scenes are way more fun than actually shooting them. Jordan Gavaris: Yeah. I'd never done a horror movie before. It was beautiful, but I was so not prepared for how wet and sticky you are. There was a day where I think I was just wet, sticky, and cold for 12 hours on a concrete floor, but it produces great work. You're distracted, you're out of yourself. There's no room to — Addison Heimann: Look at this wonderful Canadian sentiment he's doing. Olivia Taylor Dudley: You left your body at one time. Jordan Gavaris: Some might call it toxic positivity. Pucci On Playing 'The Biggest Slut Possible' In Touch Me Dudley, Gavaris & Heimann Also Share What They Hope People Take Away From The Film Though the movie is certainly about the wild ride that comes from the sex-fueled premise, Touch Me also offers some meaningful explorations on the nature of codependency, self-reliance and healthy communicatio
Sundance Film Festival Touch Me Addison Heimann Olivia Taylor Dudley Jordan Gavaris Lou Taylor Pucci Sci-Fi Horror Comedy Alien Tentacles Practical Effects Codependency Self-Reliance Healthy Communication
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