If anyone were to find a cyber-thriller lurking inside a story about online competitive tickling, it’d be David Farrier – the David Attenborough of K’ Rd. He and co-director Dylan Reeve were presented a seemingly innocuous string that, when pulled, led to an investigative journalist’s El Dorado. So they pulled it. And pinched it. And wiggled it. And tugged it. And, much like being strapped down to a tickle chair, things quickly go from chuckle-worthy weirdness to uncomfortably intense.
It all kicks off when the company behind Farrier’s discovery of a tickling ring, Jane O’Brien Media, replies to his inquiries with crude homophobic slurs. Given the potentially homoerotic content O’Brien uploads, the irony is hilarious, though the joke stops when Farrier and Reeve are threatened with legal action. This rabbit hole leads to something truly sinister when the victims of this cyberbully speak out.
As dots are connected and historical ties show themselves, Tickled traces the outline of an empire that has stayed dormant for decades. Wisely, the film takes time to separate Jane O’Brien Media from the innocent members of the tickle fetish community, introducing audiences to this wider world. (You might cringe, or you might discover something about yourself.)
When the film reaches a section about MMA, however, its previously growing momentum is somewhat halted. It’s not exactly an unnecessary addition to the film, but it does go over things that had already been covered, making it feel like a footnote that’s been given its own chapter.
But this doesn’t derail Tickled. It’s funny, it’s compelling, and – as Farrier loquaciously states – “it’s actually fucking creepy as fuck.” This weird weave of tones remains sturdy throughout the warped journey before turning into something profoundly sad with the film’s final reveal.
Special credit goes to cinematographer Dominic Fryer, who shot every environment, document, squirm and nipple beautifully.
Other Quality Kiwi Docos on DVD, Blu-ray and Demand: The Ground We Won, Ever the Land, What We Do in the Shadows
