At Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 93% based on reviews from 106 critics.
(meta data) TITLE: Tickled (2016) - Rotten Tomatoes (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2016-06-16T17:00:00-07:00 Top Box Office Tickets & Showtimes DVD & Streaming ## Sign In Email address ## Sign up for Rotten Tomatoes Sign up with Facebook First Name Last Name Would you like to receive our newsletter? By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. ## Forgot your password Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. Email Address ## Real Quick We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your email. Don't worry, it won't take long. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. Please reference "Error Code 2121" when contacting customer service. # Tickled Critics Consensus Tickled uses an investigation into a silly-seeming subculture as the launching point for thought-provoking insights into online bullying and the destructive abilities of the internet. ## 94% ### TOMATOMETER Total Count: ## 86% ### Audience Score User Ratings: 4,383 ## Tickled Ratings & Reviews Explanation Share on Facebook ## Tickled Videos Tickled: Trailer 1 View All Videos (1) ## Tickled Photos View All Photos (14) ## Movie Info After stumbling upon a bizarre "competitive endurance tickling" video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled, reporter David Farrier reaches out to request a story from the company. But the reply he receives is shocking-the sender mocks Farrier's sexual orientation and threatens extreme legal action should he dig any deeper. So, like any good journalist confronted by a bully, he does just the opposite: he travels to the hidden tickling facilities in Los Angeles and uncovers a vast empire, known for harassing and harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in these films. The more he investigates, the stranger it gets, discovering secret identities and criminal activity. Discovering the truth becomes Farrier's obsession, despite increasingly sinister threats and warnings. With humor and determination, Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve summon up every resource available to get to the bottom of this tickling worm hole. Rating: R (for language) Genre: Directed By: David Farrier, Dylan Reeve In Theaters: Jun 17, 2016 Box Office: $612,816 Runtime: 92 minutes Studio: Magnolia Pictures ## Watch it now ## Cast David Farrier Dylan Reeve Hal Karp David Starr ## News & Interviews for Tickled Critics' Choice Documentary Winners: O.J.: Made In America and 13th Win Top Awards New Certified Fresh Movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime: Major League, Get Shorty, Lots of James Bond, and More Inaugural Critics' Choice Documentary Award Nominations Revealed View All ## Critic Reviews for Tickled All Critics (110) | Top Critics (33) The shocking truth is uncomfortably pursued to its fullest, and the result is a riveting piece of investigative journalism. Mar 24, 2017 | Full Review… Darian Lusk Top Critic It's not a film you'll soon forget. Mar 16, 2017 | Full Review… Christopher Orr The Atlantic Top Critic Tickled is an unexpectedly engrossing documentary that's built around the hitherto unexplored (on film anyway) world of "competitive endurance tickling". Oct 10, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… Kevin Maher Times (UK) Top Critic It would be unfair to spoil the surprises in David Farrier and Dylan Reeve's investigative documentary Tickled, but the premise should be enough to draw you in. Aug 25, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review… Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) Top Critic It's hard to explain how cleverly the film is structured without giving away crucial twists. Aug 21, 2016 | Full Review… Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard Top Critic A stranger-than-fiction voyage into that cultural abyss known as the internet. Aug 18, 2016 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review… David Jenkins Little White Lies Top Critic View All Critic Reviews (110) ## Audience Reviews for Tickled Jan 09, 2017 Some of the greatest stories are so bizarre and unpredictable that they could only come from real life, and documentaries are a terrific showcase for the strange-but-true realities of our world that have escaped notice. Tickled begins as an innocuous look into amateur competitive tickle videos online, an obvious minor fetish industry that swears by its integrity as legitimate sport. A curious New Zealand journalist is then beset by homophobic harassment, personal attacks, and legal threats, which only makes him more determined to unravel the source of these tickle videos. It reminds me of 2010's Catfish except this story actually has the stakes that film ultimately lacked. It's an investigative piece of journalism that involves working through false identities, spooked video participants that have had their lives ruined from persecution, interviewing lackeys on hidden video, and ultimately discovering the true source behind the web of lies, a man that uses his privileged class position and wealth to intimidate and exploit others. It's a movie that starts off goofy and just becomes darker, more serious, and downright sad by the end, leaving you with the sinister impression of the danger of a powerful bully using Internet anonymity to satisfy his repressed kinks including emotional sadism. Tickled could be better as it feels disorganized and padded out, including an extended trip to another tickle fetish vendor. The ending leaves something to be desired as well and will send you online to scour for more information. Still, the story is naturally intriguing and the filmmakers don't mess up a good thing by allowing the curiosity to grab an audience. Nate's Grade: B Nate Z Super Reviewer Jun 30, 2016 FUNNY BUSINESS - My Review of TICKLED (3 Stars) Sometimes jaw-dropping doesn't mean great. It may just mean that there are moments of surprise amidst a sea of questionable storytelling. Such is the case with TICKLED, the documentary by New Zealand filmmakers, David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, in which that moment of realization, the anagnorisis, feels stunning until you look back at how it was achieved....and then you may just feel slightly dirty. Let's rewind for a sec. Farrier and Reeve, an entertainment journalist and editor respectively, teamed up when they both stumbled upon Competitive Endurance Tickling videos online. After blogging about it online, their first inquiries resulted in threatening, homophobic (Farrier is gay) responses from a woman claiming to represent the producing company. Being good reporters, this only made the men more curious to delve deeper. What they uncovered proved far more nefarious than what they initially expected. In the tradition of host-driven documentaries like those of Michael Moore and Nick Broomfield, Farrier and Reeve insert themselves into and basically become part of the story. I won't spoil their discoveries, but the film seems on track to explore the perils of online coercion, identity theft and blackmail. Unfortunately, I took issue with the filmmakers' ambush tactics to get their story. Much as Michael Moore ambushed Dick Clark and Charlton Heston to get interviews with them, Farrier and Reeve use hidden cameras, secret voice recordings, or just showing up with cameras rolling to surprise their disapproving targets. We also witness some 11th hour sleight of hand as they miraculously uncover key evidence and subsequently get some PSYCHO-era dime-store psychology on one of the alleged perpetrators. It's all very haunting and, if true, speaks volumes on such issues as self-hatred, revenge, bullying, and how seemingly innocuous internet postings could ruin lives. The participants in these fetish videos are all young, Abercrombie & Fitch type models. They're mostly clothed, and despite the obvious homoeroticism, nothing overtly sexual occurs. How much the models knew about the videos actual usage remains somewhat of a mystery since only one model comes forward for an interview. In fact, some of the parties involved have attempted to discredit and/or seek legal action against the filmmakers, denying the allegations, claiming the subjects signed releases and had full knowledge of the company's intentions, and calling foul on the filmmakers' less-than-ethical tactics. The veracity of this documentary remains to be proven with both sides standing firm on their convictions. Regardless, TICKLED suffers from storytelling and filmmaking issues. A detour to another Tickling Video producer feels like filler as it doesn't seem to have any bearing on the main subject. Sure, it provides exposition we wouldn't have been able to get except in a voiceover, and the tickling demonstration we witness goes a long way in showing the fun side to this activity, but it feels like it's padding a slightly thin story. Also, the filmmakers in one moment use SURVIVOR-style symbolism of a bird of prey snatching away a squirrel, which elicited an audible groan from this viewer. I also felt empathy for the subjects when they were filmed without their permission, regardless of what crimes they may or may not be committing. On the plus side, Farrier and Reeve don't play to the cameras in the way Moore and Broomfield do. They're rather benign and quite kind to their subjects, never appearing to showboat to make a point. Because of that, I liked them but didn't necessarily like their methodology. It's kind of like tickling itself, it's hugely enjoyable/torturous in the moment, but when it's over, you don't feel anything anymore. You're left haunted, slightly traumatized, and yet unwilling to experience it again. Glenn G Super Reviewer See all Audience reviews ## Tickled Quotes There are no approved quotes yet for this movie. ## News & Features 150 Erotic Movies Ranked worst to best! 2019's Most Anticipated 63 movies coming up this year 200 Essential Movies Chosen by RT staff! Best of Netflix Movies and shows to binge now View All View All Results Go back More trailers
train18957
Tickled
Reception.
"Tickled" has received critical acclaim. In a review headlined "fetish documentary goes from giggly to grim", Nigel Smith of "The Guardian" gives the movie four (of five) stars. Dennis Harvey of "Variety" states the onscreen presence of the filmmakers "is justified because the harassment they experience in pursuing the story becomes a big part of its narrative". "The Salt Lake Tribune", giving it 4.5 stars, said it was "an act of journalistic courage" and that they "reveal the harm that can be done by an individual with a lot of money and a vindictive streak". Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times", giving it a Critic's Pick, said "Farrier and Mr. Reeve see the humor, but they also see the pathos—because it's all fun and giggles until someone gets hurt." 
 Armond White of "Out" magazine was critical of the movie, commenting that it "zips past its sexual aspects", and concluding that it is ultimately "frustrating, a blue-balls documentary".