I found myself looking at it and liking certain parts, but I didn't get emotionally swept up...but it great that the film happened, in itself there's a sense of relief and triumph there...

| May 22, 2019

It's a fascinating take on the horrors of World War II and one that confirms [Amandla] Stenberg as one of the most accomplished rising stars of her generation.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 10, 2019

If Asante's idea is that Nazi ideology poisoned bright young minds into viewing their fellow citizens as less than human, the lovey-dovey bond she's pushing as the main event seems even more implausible.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 10, 2019

The film gives us elements of melodrama and also of epic - yet there is also something a little uncomfortable about it.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 10, 2019

Where Hands Touch is ultimately let down by a deeply contrived narrative and tone-deaf melodramatic style which only serves to diminish the importance and urgency of the real life stories behind Assante's screenplay.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 9, 2019

While Asante's earlier films were grounded in reality and successfully linked the problems facing their protagonists to contemporary aspects of racism, Where Hands Touch seems unduly contrived.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 29, 2019

In the end it feels like a school play, and not a very good one.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 26, 2019

Where Hands Touch is unfortunately as problematic as we assumed; the questions it raises about national vs. cultural identity didn't need a Nazi romance to be resonant.

| Sep 21, 2018

Where Hands Touch is a waste of solid acting by Amandla Stenberg, and time for its viewers. Asante's attempt to make Nazi characters appear sympathetic is a perfect example of not reading the room, especially in this contentious time in our country.

| Sep 20, 2018

Pity, considering the filmmaker's resume and the subject matter, this film should have been compelling.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 18, 2018

Where Hands Touch is a coming of age story, a saga of war, and a heart-rending love story about a forbidden romance that defied the odds against survival in a living hell.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 14, 2018

Asante usually excels at sharing stories audiences haven't seen before, so it's unfortunate that this one feels so dully familiar.

| Sep 13, 2018

Asante maintains a firm grasp of her story at all times but the backdrop is occasionally flimsy.

| Original Score: 6 | Sep 13, 2018

A gut-wrenching misfire.

| Sep 13, 2018

When the complex, humanizing portrayal of Nazi characters and SS soldiers enter the picture, good intentions do derail fast, leading to disturbing outcomes.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 11, 2018

Throughout, Asante raises questions about bravery, conscience and, most of all, identity.

| Sep 10, 2018

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.

| Sep 10, 2018

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.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 10, 2018