Who Did George MacKay Play in Where Hands Touch?

Before rising to a higher level of international fame with a leading role in Sam Mendes’ war movie 1917, George MacKay clearly took a big interest in historical dramas, which most likely paved his way to bigger cinema screens.

The actor showed up as a soldier for the first time ever in the 2012 war film Private Peaceful, which was followed several movies later by the 2018 romantic war flick Where Hands Touch.

The film ultimately was crushed by critics upon its arrival to theaters, yet instead brought MacKay a much larger fanbase, which grew even larger a few years later.

What Is Where Hands Touch About?

Having received its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2018, Where Hands Touch stars Amandla Stenberg (who you may easily recognize as The Hunger Games ’ Rue) and George MacKay as a young couple never meant to be together due to the hardships of World War II going on.

Stenberg’s Leyna meets MacKay’s Lutz when the latter accidentally hits the girl with his bike, and the weird encounter eventually grows into something bigger as Lutz realizes the more time they spend together, the more he falls for Leyna.

Both characters developing romantic feelings for each other would take this as an incentive to fight through the war eventually ending up together, yet, ironically, Leyna is a half-African constantly targeted by the Nazi regime and Lutz is none other than a Hitler Youth soldier forced to go for people just like his newly found girlfriend.

Eventually, their love story doesn’t get a happy ending after all, and both characters’ fate couldn’t be more disheartening, with MacKay’s Lutz still making his fans’ eyes watering every time the movie is brought up.

Despite a poignant storyline, Where Hands Touch never got to be the critical darling with only 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, though its 70% audience score proves that it’s surely worth the shot — especially since George MacKay is like no one else when it comes to sorrowful war dramas.