Mick Jordan gets his running shoes on for the moving documentary The Slightest Touch.
Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) has been described as “The worst disease you’ve never heard of.” Also known as Butterfly Skin, it is a condition that leaves the skin so fragile it blisters and tears at the slightest touch. Emma Fogarty was born with EB and her parents were told that she was unlikely to survive the week or, if she did, she wouldn’t live for very long after. They were also told that it was probably best for everyone if she didn’t.
Now, as she approaches her 40th birthday, Emma decides to mark the milestone in style. She reminds her longtime friend Colin Farrell of a promise he once made to run the Dublin Marathon as a fundraiser for EB charity DEBRA Ireland. Not only that, she wants him to push her wheelchair for the last four kilometres, one for every decade that she has defied the disease. Rachel Fleit’s film is a document of the preparations Colin and Emma make for the big race, but it is also a portrait of a powerful friendship of mutual support, built up over many years.
For many viewers this will be the first they’ve heard of the disease and the film doesn’t shy away from highlighting the arduous daily tasks Emma has to endure just to stay alive. She spends her life covered in bandages and in constant pain. Underneath these are effectively open wounds all over her skin; but she has no fear of showing the depths of this struggle. She has chosen to go on record with this film not to emphasise her suffering but to bring awareness to the disease. Her intention is to spotlight how many sufferers are in the same position across the world - as well as how very little funding there is to support them. Very little funding means very few nurses are there to help. For most families, the daily bandage change is performed by the parents. Emma’s own mother and father did her bandages until she was 28, and one of her missions is to increase the number of nurses available. More nurses will free up the parents to be parents and “to hold their child’s hand” while they are enduring this treatment, every day.
The film also features scenes of Colin with his sons James and Henry. James, his eldest, has Angelman Syndrome (AS), a genetic disorder that causes intellectual and developmental disability, but just like Emma’s EB, James’s condition is not what defines him. He is his own person with his own personality and Colin is very dismissive of the “Oh the poor thing” comments he often encounters. Colin points out James is clearly a very happy young man, “the happiest man I know”, and the honest interactions that play out on screen between father and son show why.
We also see scenes of Colin Farrell "the actor", at work. At the time of filming he was in Macau working on Ballad of a Small Player. Given that in that film he portrayed a drink-drugs-and-gambling addict, busily indulging every excess that comes his way, it makes for an interesting contrast to see him set off for a long jog on his time off. It is while he is filming that he gets a text from Emma letting him know that she is going through a particularly bad phase with her EB The doctors feel taking on the last 4km of the marathon might be too much. Colin’s reaction shows just how open and honest this relationship is. Rather than placate her with meaningless platitudes, he texts back his fury and frustration with the disease.
Emma is determined to take part, however, and her condition stabilises sufficiently to allow them to stick to their original plan. And so, at the point where most runners would surely be easing down, Colin adds to his challenge and pushes Emma those last momentous four kilometres to and past the finish line. The delight of any marathon runner when they reach the end is always huge; for these two it is on another level.
Of course, we know much of this story from the news reports at the time. We know that the pair set out to raise €400,000 and exceeded that goal, reaching €774,000 and counting. But seeing all the work and effort Emma and Colin put into the preparations for the event really brings it home what an achievement it was. While not intruding, director Rachel Fleit is a participant in the film herself. It is to her that Colin and Emma share their story and allow us, as the audience, to witness the depth of their friendship first hand. And we are more than welcome to be there.
The Slightest Touch premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival on 28th February 2026.
