And now for something completely different. The trailer for the upcoming documentary Tickled has arrived and tackles the weird underworld of “competitive endurance tickling.” That wasn’t a typo. Directed by New Zealand journalist David Farrier and filmmaker Dylan Reeve, the film (which was picked up by Magnolia Pictures) made its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and has since been playing the festival circuit, earning acclaim and other forms of notoriety along the way.
After Farrier discovers the world of competitive tickling online, he decides to further investigate, being a man intrigued by the “weird and bizarre.” Rather surprisingly, he’s meet with firm opposition and resistance upon deeper investigation. What might have started as a quirky lark seemingly turns troubling and dark as the competitive world of tickling masks rows of secrecy, fraud and abuse. Reportedly, during and following the completion of Tickled, the filmmakers themselves were embroiled in even more drama.
As an aside, a screening of Tickled at the True/False Film Festival last March reportedly had to stopped for nearly ten minutes as local police had to remove two people from the screening who were secretly recording the movie. It was believed that the movie pirates weren’t mere cinephiles but private investigators.
Check out the trailer below as it begins with Farrier’s easy-going opening and evolves into far more unsettling terrain (musical wisps of Inception included). Tickled begins it theatrical run on June 17th.
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