Tickled

Whether it is drama, comedy or documentary, New Zealand filmmakers punch above their weight. The documentary Tickled (2016) is one of the most unusual films you will see for a long time and a guaranteed conversation starter in the right company. While the film's title suggests comedic titillation, what it reveals is something more sinister that has wrecked many lives. It is also a fine example of how dogged investigative journalism can stumble from something that appears innocuously weird into something bizarrely dangerous.

It is said that movies have plots while documentaries have premises. Pop-culture journalist David Farrier specialises in fringe phenomena and his premise is that if someone spends a fortune to stay anonymous they have something serious to hide. He comes across something described as "competitive professional tickling" that involves the filming of young athletic males being tied down and tickled by one or more other young athletic males, all fully clothed. His initial inquiries to understand more about this activity are so aggressively stonewalled that he turns his investigation into a documentary with most of the filming in the United States. Expecting to find a secretive cult of homoerotic activity, he finds participants who have been subjected to extraordinary legal threats, extortion, and public shaming. The scale of intimidation and the lengths to which perpetrators are prepared to go indicate there is big money involved. The documentary feels like a parallel universe where things go from strange to stranger as the inquiries lead to a prominent and wealthy American lawyer who was a teacher and school principal. Farrier and his team-mate Dylan Reeve use old fashioned stakeouts, doorstop confrontations, and forensic web-based research to turn the study of a fringe fetish into a gripping thriller.

This is a well-produced documentary, especially for a novice filmmaker. Minor criticisms aside, like Ferrier's occasional tendency to tell rather than show and a few scenes that need tighter editing (like the time spent in the car stake-out), the overall pace, direction and content make this a totally engaging film. The hand-held filming technique and the unexpected twists and turns in the investigation impart real-time-discovery effects. A quick Google search will show that both during production and since the film's release Farrier and Reeve have been and still are under serious legal and financial threat. Not only do the filmmakers deserve a bravery award, their work is riveting from the laughter-filled opening scenes to the chilling closing credits.

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.

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.

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.

Tickled certainly deviates from its trailer, but the film itself is a shocking piece of art. Tied together with tasteful cinematography (with necessary hidden cameras here and there), Tickled captures the enigma of David D'Amato's empire of male-tickling videos which results in scare tactics, harassment, and financial bullying of the unsuspecting participants--something that is very relevant to modern issues. I felt sad walking out of the film, which is evidence that this film does its job of riding the line between comedy and tragedy. I do feel that the trailer sets up an expectation of a horror/thriller aspect, but there is not much of this atmosphere in the film. I do, however, think that the film by itself is a brave piece of journalism that endangered the Tickled team financially and psychologically. The fact that the team was able to muster up the courage to finish the film is remarkable, and I hope David and his team are brought to justice.