Touch

In the late 1960s, Kristofer (Palmi Kormakur) is a young Icelander man studying at London School of Economics, but his left-wing beliefs put him at odds with the school administration. After being mocked by his college friends for saying he would drop out, Kristofer impulsively applies to be a dishwasher at Nippon, a Japanese restaurant owned by chef Takahashi, where he meets and falls in love with Miko (Koki), Takahashi's daughter. Kristofer learns Japanese and works hard at Nippon, earning the trust of Takahashi and Miko. He witnesses Takahashi forcibly break up a relationship between Miko and her boyfriend. Takahashi trains Kristofer as a chef and lets him come in early to practice. As Miko visits Kristofer to taste his cooking, they grow closer and start a relationship, unbeknownst to Takahashi. Miko confides in Kristofer that her family was originally from Hiroshima, and her mother was pregnant with her at the time of the bombing. Facing discrimination back home as 'Hibakusha,' they moved to England. Upon coming back from a holiday, Kristofer is shocked to see that the restaurant has been closed, and the Takahashis have moved away without saying a word, except for one final paycheck addressed to him. Fifty years later, Kristofer (Egill Olafsson) is now a widower living alone in Iceland. His memory is failing, and his doctor suggests that he should resolve any unfinished business while he still has time and capacity. Kristofer closes his restaurant and sets out to find Miko just when the world is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arriving in London in the midst of pandemic restrictions, Kristofer finds Takahashi's restaurant is now a tattoo parlor. He manages to locate Hitomi, a former employee at Nippon, who tells him that Takahashi and Miko moved back to Japan 50 years ago, and Takahashi has since passed away. She gives Kristofer Miko's last known address. Kristofer visits Miko's (Yoko Narahashi) apartment in Japan. After a moment of hesitation, the two embrace, not having seen each other for over half a century. Miko reveals the reason for her sudden departure: her father always feared that her children would have birth defects from radiation exposure, so he forbade her from having relationships altogether. When he discovered Miko was pregnant with Kristofer's child, he moved her back to Japan, and later forced her to give the child up for adoption. Miko has remained unmarried since, with no other children. Miko then tells Kristofer that their son, Akira (Eugene Nomura), was born a healthy child and happily adopted, and is now a chef with his own restaurant and family. She takes him to Akira's restaurant, where she is a regular customer. Kristofer is overcome with emotion upon seeing his son for the first time, though Akira remains unaware of his biological parents. The film ends with Kristofer and Miko walking down the street hand in hand. As the screen fades to black, he softly sings to her the Icelandic song he sang years ago in a party at Nippon.