Newcomer Kōki Delivers Beautiful Breakout Performance in Touch

Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur’s new film Touch is a “the one who got away” story of epic proportions. It will break your heart and tenderly piece it back together over the course of two hours, leaving you believing in the power of soulmates. Spanning multiple decades and continents (shot beautifully across England, Iceland, and Japan), the romantic drama follows one man’s emotional journey in search of his first great love. It’s based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson and is a delicate exploration of what could have been had the lives of one young couple not diverged at the height of their passion. A little advice: Grab your tissues.

The film begins in 2020 with elderly widower Kristófer receiving an early-stage dementia diagnosis and advice from his doctor to tie up any loose ends before it’s too late. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic ramping up, Kristófer decides to close his Iceland restaurant and make way for London, where he last saw his first great love Miko. In a flashback to the late ’60s, we see Kristófer and Miko meet for the first time at her father’s restaurant, Nippon. Trading his economic studies for a kitchen prep job, Kristófer soon falls hard for the mysterious Miko, who is working as a waitress. While all seems to be going well for the young couple, he arrives at work one day to find Nippon closed for good and Miko gone without warning, leaving Kristófer devastated. As the film shifts back to the present, we see Kristófer journey to England and then Japan in hopes to fill a void and find the woman he never stopped loving.

At the beating heart of Touch are four fantastic performances from its leads, especially from newcomers Pálmi Kormákur and Kōki. With a palpable chemistry, Pálmi and Kōki set the foundation for a grand love story that will have you rooting for the couple’s reunion decades later. In only her second-ever acting role, Kōki is a standout, imbuing Miko with a gentle nature and curiosity. Since appearing in the 2022 horror-thriller Ox-Head Village, the Japanese model-musician—who made her Paris Fashion Week debut in 2019 with Chanel—has been proving herself to be a triple threat. Following in her father’s (actor Takuya Kimura) footsteps, Kōki is eager to tell stories that make audiences feel certain emotions. We spoke with the actor days before the film hit cinemas to talk about the privilege of working on Touch, believing in soulmates, and the fashion combo she is wearing all summer.

This is both yours and Pálmi Kormákur’s first big roles. How was it working with him as a scene partner to build that incredible chemistry that really sets the stage for the current-day story?