Tickled

Description

Out-and-proud gay New Zealand journalist David Farrier stumbles upon a mysterious online fetish empire while researching a story about the sport of man-on-man competitive tickling. A simple click pulls him—and the viewer—into a cyber-informational wormhole, revealing a universe of litigious threats and homophobic slurs in this gripping and often bizarre nail-biter of a detective story. When Farrier initially requests an interview with the tickling website, he is answered with virulent insults and threats to shut the film down. A visit by lawyers soon follows—all because the company vehemently denies that the site contains gay content. While the threats force the project undercover, they only inspire Farrier and his directing partner Dylan Reeve to continue investigating. In the US, they find former tickling performers, mostly heterosexual, who were strapped for cash and conned into making fetish content. While the guys’ surprise at seeing their videos posted online smacks of naiveté, the level of harassment and blackmail directed at those who objected to the company’s questionable business practices is shocking. The investigation takes several surprising turns as the filmmakers discover jaw-dropping revelations about the company’s true origins, the identity of its founder and the obsessions that gave rise to its existence. —Kevin Schaub

Film Details