Wonderful character development!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

David Farrier captures our attentions with subtlety and ease in his documentary, TICKLED. When David receives a hostile response to an inquiry about competitive tickling he does not shy away from looking further.It is the looking further when a seemingly harmless 'sport' comes to be seen as something much much more. David managed to arouse our curiosity and take us on a journey that (pun intended) tickled my interest, deepened my suspicions and shocked me with it's focus.TICKLED goes to show us what money and position can achieve and get away with. In a scenario which could have been harmless, one person takes it to an abusive next level and David is there with us the entire time.

Please don't read this review if you want to avoid a spoiler.Documentaries like this are what make Netflix more than worth the money. This is an interesting exposé of David D'Amato, an obese, troubled and wealthy American gay man who has built up what can only be described as an international tickling-porn exploitation ring. For many years, his network has found and paid indigent young men to do these videos.The videos are not done naked, so somehow this gay man has (with bizarre homophobic logic) convinced himself that it is not gay. If a young man crosses him at some point (e.g. by stopping), he retaliates by doxing and humiliating the hapless young man all over the internet and by sending revealing, hateful and lurid correspondence to everyone in the young man's life, including his parents, his employers, and so on.The porn producers and tickle-porn actors are understandably terrified of him. In carrying out these activities, he has (apparently and allegedly) committed several crimes, including identity theft, impersonating a lawyer, extortion, visa fraud and so on.Our stalwart filmmakers include David Farrier, a New Zealand reporter quite similar to Louis Theroux, who stumbles onto all this and documents what he finds. He faces a shitstorm of rather intimidating legal action from this guy and his minions. However, he pursues it diligently, and with one or two really lucky breaks he succeeds in exposing the whole exploitation ring to the world and identifying this horrible man.At some point, this movie changed direction: what happens when a lowly and unresourced investigative journalist, taking on the role that should really be carried out by police and prosecutors, decides to expose the malevolent and possibly criminal practices of a wealthy scumbag to the world? David and Dylan turn out to have huge balls, because once the sh*t starts flying they just go after him even more.It really is a remarkable movie and a decent bit of investigative journalism. We should support David Farrier and Dylan Reeve for their bravery and professionalism, as they battle lawsuits initiated by this nutcase even as you're reading this. Fortunately, HBO and Magnolia picked up the movie and hopefully made it worthwhile.

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.

'TICKLED': Four Stars (Out of Five)Critically acclaimed documentary flick; about an online tickling competition, involving young athletes tickling each other. The film was directed by first time feature filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve. Farrier is a New Zealand entertainment journalist, who also stars in the movie. He met a lot of harsh resistance, while investigating the film's story, from a producer of the 'tickling endurance sport' (named Jane O'Brien). The struggles Farrier and Reeve had making the film, becomes as much apart of the story as the tickling itself. The movie has received mostly rave reviews from critics, and it's become a small indie hit (at the Box Office). I think the film is really well made, and extremely intriguing. The movie begins with a montage of clips, from Farrier's other obscure entertainment stories. Then we see him come across an 'endurance tickling' video. He's intrigued by it, and he then decides to write the producers of the video (Jane O'Brien Media) about doing a story on the sport. He gets a very negative reply, from the corporation, which accuses him of wanting to put a 'gay slant' on the videos (as they insist the 'endurance competition' is exclusively heterosexual). Farrier, and his friend Dylan Reeve, then decide to investigate the subject further; as they make a documentary about their journalistic journey. The movie is a very insightful (and educational) look, at how much those with a lot of money (and power) can get away with. It's involving, and always interesting; and at times it seems more like a legal thriller, than a film about an odd fetish. The material is disturbing, and often hard to watch, but it's also really well made. As far as documentaries go, this one is pretty fascinating (and informative).Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/YnZSF_6sbsA