Film Review - Tickled (2016)

Tickled, the new documentary by David Farrier, starts off as a hilarious look into the online world of tickling but soon turns into a horrifying mystery thriller showing how power can ruin peoples’ lives.

Farrier’s journey starts when he discovers an online “sport” called competitive endurance tickling. Deciding this could make a funny subject for a documentary, he emails the website’s owner Jane O’Brien only to have her reply furiously telling him to mind his own business. Farrier undeterred keeps digging and what he discovers is bizarre. Entirely strange, funny, and certainly frightening. I don’t want to ruin too much here, as most of the fun come from the uncovering of the truth.

The documentary looks great, as their journey goes from his native New Zealand to all over the USA. The photography is stunning, which helps give this documentary film status.

As the twists unfold the tension rises until by the end you are entirely gripped. With its final revelations the film also has a lot to say about the current state of the world, where money means power.

Tickled is at once both funny and terrifying, a documentary made with skill that shows us just how seedy and strange the world can be.