#tickled 2016

[petersonreviews]

Tickled (2016)

“For all its frightful detours, Tickled maintains a lightness that backs the bafflement we’re clearly supposed to feel. One wishes [David] Farrier and [Dylan] Reeve pushed slightly harder for a bombastic ending. But when you’re dealing with a real-life, albeit wacky, James Bond villain, there’s no point in risking it all in the name of a documentary for which you already have most of the content.”

http://bit.ly/2h1C9Sb

[sanwichsays]

Last night I watched a documentary called Tickled (2016). At first I was convinced it was a mockumentary because it was just so ridiculous! A journalist wanting to unveil tickling competitions? Okay…

But further on it gets more bizarre and unbelievable because they start trying to track down a tickle fetishist who downright harasses people by sending threatening letters and doxing them.

It was appalling, but I thought it was a brilliant documentary.

[catcavecinema]

Tickled (2016)

Holy shit. So no, this is not a horror film exactly, it is an odd documentary about the strange world of tickle videos on the internet. But believe me when I say, that this documentary from David Farrier and Dylan Reeve might well be the most riveting thriller you see this year. I came out of the theater feeling like I had just seen compelling evidence that evil really does exist and was genuinely creeped out that this type of thing can and does happen. 

Now if you haven’t heard of this film yet, please don’t think that my horror and disgust is some moralistic diatribe against a harmless fetish. If tickling is your thing, that’s totally cool. But this film is not actually about tickling fetishes. This is a film about manipulation, power, money, and control. I could go into much more detail than that, but I really don’t feel like I should. This is a film that you just have to sit down and let unfold and the less you actually know about it the better. 

Now the one thing I will say here, this is not a triumph of filmmaking. This is really two guys with cameras telling a story. I wasn’t blown away by the skill of the filmmakers and this isn’t reinventing documentaries. There are actually some scenes that are shot so poorly (DIY hidden camera style) that you have to question why they didn’t just do some kind of animated recreation of the conversation and just use the audio. But it honestly doesn’t matter. This film could have been shot exclusively on an iPhone and it wouldn’t have mattered. The story is just so fucking great that nothing but sheer incompetence could ruin it. While the filmmakers may not have the budget or chops to make a super slick film, they more than have the storytelling chops to provide an engrossing narrative the hooks you from the opener and never lets you go. See this film. 

4.75 out of 5 cats.