Alicia I love this movie so much

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

nickyeskens 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.

Kim Sutherland One would assume a documentary about tickling to be a somewhat innocent, funny, and strange peek into a niche fetish community. At least that's what I was expecting. I'm not the only who got more than they bargained for in the new documentary "Tickled." After stumbling onto a website about tickling competitions, David Farrier, a pop culture reporter from New Zealand, and the director of the documentary, set his sights on revealing this weird fetish to his local audience. Upon digging further, his goal shifts from a lighthearted reveal to the responsibility of exposing an illegal, abusive organization which is preying on vulnerable young men all over the world.Tickling competitions (for those not familiar) involve young men participating in a game of endurance wherein they are strapped down and tickled by numerous other young men, all in revealing gym clothing. When Farrier discovers that teenagers from New Zealand and elsewhere were being flown to the US to participate in these competitions (all expenses paid), he did what any good reporter would and stuck his nose into other people's business. He reached out to Jane O'Brien Media, the organization that sponsors the tickling competitions, for an interview. In response, Jane O'Brien Media almost immediately confronted him with an aggressive letter suggesting he and his bisexual preferences are perverted and he will not be granted an interview. This is a bit confusing due to the obviously homoerotic vibe of these tickling videos, but that's only the beginning of where this story gets bizarre. Farrier quickly joins forces with fellow Kiwi and internet nerd Dylan Reeve (the co- director of the film) and they begin to dig. Reeve, having previously worked with internet service providers, knows how to access and research online data and started researching the history of this organization and its representative "Debra," with whom they've been corresponding. At this point, the layers slowly begin to unravel and the audience's awkward giggles fade. Before you know it, your seemingly innocent trip into a colorful rabbit hole of "weird stuff humans do" is transformed into a tornado of deception, greed, and control. As Farrier went deeper into researching Jane O'Brien Media—often working from his couch with a live parrot on his shoulder—the offensive email attacks quickly turned into legal threats followed by a personal visit from two New York lawyers to his office in New Zealand. Farrier and Reeve opened up a Pandora's Box into the world of endurance tickling and it is not pretty.Unwilling to back down despite the legal actions taken by Jane O'Brien Media, they head to America and begin interviewing people involved in the tickling ring. They fail in an attempt to sneak into a Jane O'Brien video shoot (held in some sketchy warehouse) so instead they find themselves in the house of a small-scale tickling entrepreneur—a mid-50's clean cut man living in Florida—and witness a "session." Allow me to paint the picture: The "client," a fit young man in his late teens, early 20s comes over, takes off his shirt, and gets strapped in for 20 minutes of non- stop, video-recorded tickling. The tickling involves the use of various objects including an electric toothbrush, feathers, and, of course, the Florida man's hands. Watching this attractive young man squirm and giggle while being dominated and tortured with no way to escape creates an incredibly voyeuristic scene that leaves Farrier visibly uncomfortable.The film's success is rooted in the non-stop peeling back of layers of manipulation which draws the viewer deeper and deeper into the core of this disturbing world. As Farrier and Reeve continue to piece together the mystery of who is running the Jane O'Brien empire through accounts from its victims, it becomes clear that the organization is using money to target and manipulate a certain demographics— young, low-income boys—and then basically ruining many of their lives with the footage. It's like a psychological mystery thriller after-school special and the lesson is still, "don't talk to strangers." The film is really a journey running through themes of domination, manipulation, the power of the internet, bullying, the dynamics in economic inequality and greed all rolled into one. It's an exposé that involves a real emotional roller-coaster and a must-see film. Especially if you want to laugh and then feel awkward for laughing, get mad, maybe laugh again, and perhaps shed a tear, too. Feel the feelings, see the film.

yourt-88312 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.

CineMuseFilms 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.