Touched by Love

You don't need another "must-watch drama" list — Touched by Love earns the spot regardless. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. A 5/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Deborah Raffin's performance alone is worth the time investment. Available now — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Touched by Love is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Touched by Love trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. A teenager with cerebral palsy attempts to become pen pals with her idol, Elvis Presley. Deborah Raffin and Diane Lane lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. It hit screens in 1980. The performances in Touched by Love do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Touched by Love. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Deborah Raffin's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

Touched by Love was released in 1980, directed by Gus Trikonis. The full 95-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.