Award-winning filmmaker Amma Asante (Belle) directs Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) in this story of a bi-racial teen struggling for survival in Nazi Germany.
"Rudesheim, the Rhineland, 1944. Lenya (Stenberg) has come of age during the chaos of war. Her mother (Abbie Cornish) has done her best to protect Lenya, but the racist credo of National Socialism has rendered her a pariah for the colour of her skin. Yet youthful ardour can bloom in the most unlikely places: Lenya is in love with Lutz (George MacKay), a young Nazi. Lutz toes the party line when it comes to antisemitism yet remains drawn to Lenya despite Nazi revulsion at the thought of a Black German. When that revulsion escalates to direct threat to her survival, Lenya and Lutz must face the seemingly inevitable outcome of their impossibly fraught romance." (Toronto International Film Festival)
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Award-winning filmmaker Amma Asante (Belle) directs Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) in this story of a bi-racial teen struggling for survival in Nazi Germany. Though the film's a touch too separated from reality, critic Lyn Potter explains how it succeeds as a cautionary tale.
Full review
Stenberg carries the magnetism she brought to her breakthrough role in the YA romance "Everything, Everything," but she's betrayed by a stilted rendering of a rarely illuminated piece of history.
Full review
It's a film entirely devoid of subtlety yet one that also fails to provide the grand emotion it yearns to deliver, despite the use of a sledgehammer.
Full review
Dramatically it's a mixed bag, but Where Hands Touch does offer some moments of magic.
Full review
The soft-focus romanticism, soaring music cues and use of slow-motion all mute the impact of a potentially harrowing true story.
Full review
Asante usually excels at sharing stories audiences haven't seen before, so it's unfortunate that this one feels so dully familiar.
Full review
Throughout, Asante raises questions about bravery, conscience and, most of all, identity.
Full reviewWhere Hands Touch is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Academy On Demand.
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