Watch Where Hands Touch

Where Hands Touch is a deeply moving and haunting film that explores the complexities of race, love, and survival against the backdrop of Nazi Germany. Directed by Amma Asante and starring an incredible cast that includes Abbie Cornish, Amandla Stenberg, and Christopher Eccleston, the film tells the story of a young girl named Leyna (Stenberg) who falls in love with a German boy named Lutz (George MacKay) during the height of World War II. Leyna is a biracial teenager living in Berlin with her mother (Cornish) and younger brother. Her father is French and her mother is German, and they are both Social Democrats who are actively involved in the resistance movement. Leyna and her family face constant persecution from the Nazi regime, and Leyna is forced to wear an identification badge to mark her as a "Mischling" (a person of mixed race). Despite the danger they face, Leyna and Lutz begin a secret romance, meeting in hidden places and stealing quiet moments together whenever they can. However, their love is complicated by the realities of the world they live in, particularly the fact that Lutz is a member of the Hitler Youth. As the war drags on and the Nazi regime becomes increasingly brutal, Leyna and her family find themselves in grave danger. They flee to a rural town in the hopes of finding safety, but even there they are not immune to the violence and persecution that they face. Meanwhile, Leyna's relationship with Lutz becomes more complicated as he struggles to reconcile his love for her with his loyalty to the Nazi cause. Throughout the film, the themes of race and identity are explored in powerful ways. Leyna, as a biracial teenager in Nazi Germany, is trapped in a kind of limbo, not fully accepted by either the Germans or the French. She is constantly reminded of her status as an outsider, from the stares of strangers on the street to the abuse she faces from Lutz's friends. At the same time, she is fiercely proud of her heritage and determined to stay true to herself, even as the world around her tries to strip her of her selfhood. At its heart, Where Hands Touch is a love story, but it is also a story about survival, resilience, and the enduring spirit of humanity in the face of unimaginable cruelty. The film is unflinchingly honest in its portrayal of the horrors of the Holocaust, but it is also filled with moments of tenderness and beauty that make the tragedies feel all the more heart-wrenching. The performances in the film are uniformly excellent, with Amandla Stenberg anchoring the film with a stunningly vulnerable and nuanced performance as Leyna. Abbie Cornish is equally magnificent as Leyna's mother, a fierce and loving woman who will stop at nothing to protect her children. Christopher Eccleston is also superb as Leyna's father, bringing a quiet intensity and deep sense of conviction to his role as a resistance fighter. Overall, Where Hands Touch is a deeply affecting film that will stay with you long after the credits roll. It is a testament to the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit, even in the darkest of times.