Tickled

Some of the best documentaries start out seeming to be about one subject and turn out to be about something totally different. That is definitely the central tactic of "Tickled," a movie that suggests a deep dive into the bizarre world of "competitive tickling" but surfaces as a film exposing one person's manipulative use of power and money. New Zealand journalist David Farrier and filmmaker Dylan Reeve knew they were on to something big when Farrier started to face threats and fierce legal resistance to his investigation of online tickling videos posted by a company named Jane O'Brien Media. They uncover a rather fascinating story, but whether the fish they caught is "feature documentary big" is the larger question that follows this movie around like a shadow. Bringing to light that some people have tickling fetishes certainly doesn't merit a 90-minute film, so the story Farrier and Reeve uncover has to be worthy of that time. To that end, you could make the case either way. Their investigation of the mysterious entity of Jane O'Brien Media is the bulk of the film's action, and they carefully unfurl the story, detail by important detail, to maximize tension. Some of these details seem obvious, making their deliberate withholding of information or of their key sources a little more gimmicky than journalistic. The story develops legs when we meet some of the young men who have been victimized by this company. Jane O'Brien Media deliberately seeks out young athletic men who will be incentivized by money; the problem is that when any of this "talent" tries to back out, the company uses the videos to ruin the young men's online reputations, i.e. making these videos high in search results about them and plastering their name all over the internet with the videos. What's unsaid is the way this exploits the homoerotic nature of the tickling videos as leverage for extortion. "Tickled," however, focuses on finding out the truth about Jane O'Brien Media more so than the power of using the internet to manipulate people, or about how casting young men in a homosexual light can do incredible damage to their lives. These are issues that warrant exploration, but Farrier and Reeve mostly use them to add stakes and tone to their investigation. Investigative reporting is also not visually interesting, which "Tickled" struggles with. Too many shots show Farrier or other subjects/sources in the documentary sitting at a computer, or hands typing on a keyboard with voice-over. This is also the limitation of a story that lives almost exclusively in a digital realm. All of Farrier's brazen attempts to confront the people he needs answers from seem like courageous, bold actions taken in the name of truth, but the flipside of that coin is that his documentary would be nothing without them. There's no action in this film without him taking it. A major newspaper report or a long "60 Minutes" segment would seem most appropriate for "Tickled." As fascinating as the truth they discover and the portrait they paint of the individual behind all this are, the documentary feature format feels like an exhaustive means of telling the story. Farrier and Reeve also ignore the most interesting questions in favor of the mystery narrative, though some of Farrier's voice- over toward the end reveals their awareness of these bigger issues. There's one attempt to tie together the film's main topics of tickling and a controlling, abusive individual, but it requires overt explanation, and when that occurs, you know a documentary has become a little too splintered. "Tickled" tells a story absolutely worth hearing and raises important questions, but because its tellers discovered themselves in the middle of that story, they weren't quite able to see the big picture and tell that story in a way most fitting for the big screen and that best tackled the issues at its core. ~Steven C Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Believe it or not, this documentary about competitive tickling unexpectedly became one of the most gripping and intense films of last year. This film brilliantly sets out to expose some of the most bizarre evils in our world, as journalist David Farrier explores a secret, shocking underground world after stumbling across a weird, silly tickling video online. What follows is a series of twists and turns that feel like a slightly surrealist film noir, but it's ALL REAL! Although it works mostly as a bizarre thriller, "Tickled" is also surprisingly comic and tragic. There is certainly much humor to be found in such a strange story, and David Farrier's narration and personality can be naturally funny. Throughout the first half of the film, many witty quips are made from his charming, New Zealander mouth, and it really eases the viewer before tying them up in the mind numbingly crazy mystery ahead. The tragedy plays an even more important role in the story, as the audience is told tales of fraud, abuse, and destruction that will genuinely shock almost anyone. And then, the final phone call scene is one of the most powerful moments in any documentary film that I have seen, as we learn a hidden backstory that, like everything else in the film, is quite unexpected. My eyes were glued to the screen, and my stomach was bursting with butterflies as I was engaged in the shocking mysteries this film exposes. It is easily one of the top 3-5 films of last year, and is a true masterpiece of the documentary. It is extremely underrated in my opinion, despite the fact that most people who've seen it seem to really like it, because it just flat out did not receive the wild attention I think it deserves. I encourage everyone to go out and see this movie as soon as possible, despite the fact that it did not even get an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, which is absolutely ridiculous!

Such an amazing film that I prefer to sketch out the broader points in note form: 1. The story is well known. Obscure N.Z. reporter with limited funds stumbles across an odd story on social media, tries to investigate it, and in no time at all 3 "thugs" cross the ocean from the U.S. to intimidate him. Digging deeper, he discovers what APPEARS TO BE a lone sociopath with millions of inherited family money who has, just like a Bond villain, established a global network of "tickling" studios, not necessarily for the money but seemingly to satisfy odd personal desires. A pattern emerges suggesting that this individual has a multi-decade "pattern" of the most astonishing personal attacks (including identity theft and other federal crimes) against anyone anywhere who gets in his way. Yet (and this is never properly explained in the film) somehow manages to bend even the Justice system to his will. 2. So how does the film-maker respond? By crowdfunding a documentary and then tracking down the arch-villain. (The film is really a cross between a true documentary and an investigative journalism piece, which is quite rare.) 3. That's all the spoilers for the story. The raw power of the doc, however, lies in its ability to tease the viewer's imagination about what lies at the end of the breadcrumb trail. By the time you meet the nemesis (who in fact passed away shortly after the premier) the viewer has already formed a "mental picture" of what he will be like. That's the real power and magic of the story. 4. Possibly one of the greatest docs of all time, even has its own sequel. Highly recommended.

Sometimes when i'm bored i'll watch * with a really long introduction so i become attached to the people in the video and this is basically what that is, if you have a weird sadistic * like me you'll probably find your fingers getting kinda sticky within this documentary and that's a good thing. most of the footage is good quality so if your a cinophile that'll be ticking(tickling) your boxes and if you haven't yet picked up a kink for tickling then you're about to.In all seriousness this actually a very good little film and i really enjoyed it. but anyway in the words of my dwarf god "yer makin' a chicken out of a feather" and i don't know what that means but oh dear lord do i want to have torbjorns 20 children right ow.(((im really sorry god please don't hold this against me)))

Tickled is such a weird creature, a documentary about the "Sport" of competitive endurance tickling. Yep, you read that right. However that is merely the beginning, as the documentary delves deeper it gets dark. Really, really dark. Not to ruin anything but there is so much more and the subject matter is remarkable, trouble is its ruined by a very lackluster near spineless documentary filmmaker who squanders the potential. Within moments I felt like I was watching another scripted documentary alike Catfish (2010) the concept was too fantastical and everything just felt too convenient. However upon investigation it certainly appears to be legitimate and once you've watched the documentary you'll realise that is a really scary fact. Well made and truly fascinating subject matter but handled by people who were just out of their depth. We can only dream what could have been! Do hope this doesn't develop a TV show like Catfish otherwise my spidey sense will start tingling again.

Yes, terrific, outstanding, because so weird, disturbing and real in the same time. The other users have told about told it far better than I will ever do. But no, I have never seen such topic about such a matter. They talk about tickling as if it was a Secret Defense issue, involving the National Security files. Or the Mafia, criminal nets...And the best is in the end, where everything is finally explained. On the phone, the step mother of the man guilty of all this explains, gives détails about the genesis of this behaviour. That's the best for me. I still can't believe it. Thanks Netflix for this gem.

New Zealand journalist David Farrier (tv series Short Poppies, etc) has made a career out of looking at the weird side of life. But even he was unprepared for the fallout after stumbling upon a website about "competitive endurance tickling" in which young men were paid to be tied up and tickled, complete with some videos. Although the on-line videos were pretty harmless, they piqued his curiosity and Farrier decided to find out more. But when he contacted Jane O'Brien Media to try an arrange an interview he was harassed and threatened with lawsuits from a high powered US firm. Their secretive and aggressive manner intrigued Farrier even further and he tried to probe beneath the surface. He and his collaborator, writer/filmmaker and computer expert Dylan Reeve, discovered a vaguely sinister to this tickling * as they travelled to Los Angeles and New York. Farrier talks to a couple of former tickle participants who talk about being blackmailed and threatened. What began as a light hearted investigation into something that initially seemed vaguely homoerotic but innocuous turned into a thriller as Farrier and Reeve tried to probe a web of corporate paperwork to find out the identity of the mysterious figures behind Jane O'Brien Media. By turns amusing and gripping, Tickled gives us a look at the darker side of the internet and a vaguely unsettling subculture, and explores themes of power, control, harassment, fetishism, corruption, and criminal activity. This is the first feature length documentary from Farrier, and he has an amiable screen presence, but he also demonstrates a dogged sense of purpose as he refuses to back down from threats and intimidation as he gets closer to learning the identity of the person behind this unusual enterprise. A strange and decidedly weird little documentary that is unexpectedly compelling and entertaining.

A very intriguing documentary by this clever kiwi crew. What seems to be, and what SHOULD be, some fairly innocent and legit questions asked about professional tickling, turns out to be something quite extraordinary. A rabbit hole that goes very deep indeed, as leads get thin, and as law suits get filed, the crew know it is going to be a tough journey to get to the bottom of things and get the tough answers to the questions that were initially asked. It keeps the viewer engaged right to the very end. Very enjoyable and enlightening watch. Perhaps the next step for this crew is to see if they can get to the bottom of Huzaifa Huxaifa and why Lenny Pozner has a copyright on this person.

And it isn't even a thriller. The tenseness I felt watching this movie is something I never felt before. This movie is a prime example of true investigative journalism, starting with something seemingly innocent and it ending up being one of the most disturbing things I have heard about. I believe this movie is a must see, even for people who do not like documentaries. Because this story could have easily been fictional. David does a great job letting you see this movie trough his eyes and trough they eyes of the people affected by it, I can only imagine the dread and fear he and they felt making this documentary. I liked that David left in his struggles while making this movie, even though the movie sometimes slowed down because of it, and that's my only critique. I have great respect for the fearlessness David and Dylan had making this movie, and for the people they managed to interview. Tickled is a crazy adventure about something I didn't know I wanted to know about. Its frightening, Interesting and sometimes a little silly. The title might seem funny, but believe me this movie is no joke.

I arrived at the local art house cinema expecting to see Weiner only to find that it played at 4:30 and 9:30. Tickled, a film I hadn't heard of was just about to start at 7:00 so there I was. I have seen tickle videos on YouTube and elsewhere and always wondered about the economics behind these strange, professional looking videos. They weren't advertisements for subscription pay sites so what gives... Tickled sheds some light on the economics and motivation behind them. Without giving anything away, I'd suggest that it is as creepy and malevolent a story as Foxcatcher. The head games played by Mr. DuPont and 'Teri Tickle' are frighteningly similar even if the results were very different. Talking about the film with strangers as I left the theater: I thought my 'creepy' was better than any of the other adjectives mentioned. But when I talked about tickle videos being everywhere on the Internet, they might of thought that was creepy. Too often in documentaries, the person with the microphone can be overbearing to irritation. The low key approach in Tickled makes the journey more interesting. It only heightens what unfolds on the screen.