Purely Joyful Movie!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

David Farrier captures our attentions with subtlety and ease in his documentary, TICKLED. When David receives a hostile response to an inquiry about competitive tickling he does not shy away from looking further.It is the looking further when a seemingly harmless 'sport' comes to be seen as something much much more. David managed to arouse our curiosity and take us on a journey that (pun intended) tickled my interest, deepened my suspicions and shocked me with it's focus.TICKLED goes to show us what money and position can achieve and get away with. In a scenario which could have been harmless, one person takes it to an abusive next level and David is there with us the entire time.

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.

New Zealand journalist David Farrier came upon the strange phenomena of competitive endurance tickling when searching online for new avenues to write articles on. He duly contacted the group who organised it, Jane O'Brien Media, but was met with a volley of abuse. After some to-ing and fro-ing they sent over representatives to Auckland to meet Farrier and his fellow film-maker, which only led to further threats. This bullying encouraged the two film-makers to go to the United States to try and find out more about what dark forces were behind this seemingly innocuous, if somewhat bizarre, online activity.Tickled has been described as the new Catfish (2010) and not entirely without justification. It shares the concept of a documentary following a mystery route where strange secrets are uncovered. In this one an enigmatic empire seems to lie behind the world of tickling, which is really not a competitive endurance based activity at all but an odd sexual fetish. It turns out it is harmless enough to get many young men involved when there is a cash incentive but embarrassing enough to cause them many problems when these tickle videos begin to be posted everywhere online by the media group who own them. The videos are used in this way as a means of ensuring the men comply with the demands of the mysterious leader Jane O'Brien, if the boys refuse to do more work then the videos are posted everywhere with their real names attached to them. The film-makers soon discovered that most of these young men were consequently too afraid to speak out but one or two individuals do talk and detail the levels of blackmail, bullying and exploitation they have had to endure. There group behind it seem to be as much interested in power and control, as they are in their sexual fetish. The investigation begins in the earliest days of the internet and continues to the present day. There is a big reveal late on but it's best not to say too much about it.It could probably be argued that, while this one has a very interesting premise, it doesn't necessarily wrap things up as strongly as it might. By the end it feels like there are still more questions than answers. Still, this is an interesting and strange story and despite one or two flaws, it's one that makes for fascinating viewing.

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 fetish 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.