Journalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn't stop him getting to the bottom of... Read allJournalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn't stop him getting to the bottom of a story stranger than fiction.Journalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn't stop him getting to the bottom of a story stranger than fiction.
- Awards
- 1 win & 16 nominations
- Self
- (as Dave Starr)
- Self - Radio Host: KSEN, K96
- (archive footage)
- (voice)
- Self
- (voice)
- Self - David P. D'Amato's Stepmother
- (voice)
- (as Dorothy)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring a screening at the True/False Film Festival the film had to be stopped for nearly ten minutes while local police escorted two people from the cinema. The two were allegedly private investigators who had been spotted trying to record the film with a device hidden in a coffee cup.
- Quotes
David Farrier: I started this journey curious about a bizarre sport called Competitive Endurance Tickling. But I now think this was never even about tickling... This is about power, control and harassment. It's about one person's twistedness, and how far that can go. One person, who has managed to shelter himself with money to keep his obsession going. But now, it's his life exposed. For once, it's him on camera.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 20 Best Documentary Films of the Last Decade (2019)
- SoundtracksStirring Them up as the Keeper of a Menagerie His Wild Beasts
Written by Shane Carruth
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.
- Red-Barracuda
- Aug 27, 2016
- How long is Tickled?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $613,956
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $21,898
- Jun 19, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $790,519
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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