'Tickled' A Review

Tickled is a documentary from New Zealand journalists David Farrier and Dylan Reeve about the online phenomenon of "endurance competitive tickling". Farrier a professed "fluff" journalist reaches out to Jane O'Brien Media a prominent purveyor of tickling videos for an interview and receives such a nasty, aggressive, homophobic response his curiosity is peeked and he begins to investigate. What is uncovered is not that these videos are thinly veiled fetish material(which is obvious) but that the tickling videos are but a means to control, manipulate, and shame its participants by one wealthy twisted individual.

The film is compelling however it isn't exactly cinematic, there are extended shots of offices and skylines where the only thing notable happening is Farrier's voiceover. There is also a knawing, although not unpleasant, sense of the obvious and inevitable as the movie goes on. From Jane O'Brien Media's initial email response to Farrier's first meeting with Kevin Clarke(some kind of executive) it is crystal clear that there is something very nefarious going on and the people Farrier encounters are terrified and hostile in equal measure. The marketing for Tickled purports astonishing twists however the story is relatively predictable, we've heard versions of it before many times. But what is interesting is the courage with which Farrier and Reeve continue on under perpetual harassment and legal threats. Their tenacious pursuit of the facts. The reveal of who is actually behind all this unarguably criminal behavior, again, is not surprising but outing that individual and exposing this tickling venture for what it is could make a powerful difference in young impressionable and/or desperate lives.

Great journalism, mild cinema. More appropriate for TV than the big screen.

Rent It.