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Tickled

A doc with laughs, and a very dark edge

Tickled

The world of competitive tickling is even creepier than it sounds.

That’s what filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve uncover in the deeply disturbing, eye-opening documentary “Tickled.” The film is an investigative thriller that unravels the deep web of lies, threats and deceit that festers in the dark corners of the internet, and shows how online behavior can have damaging, real-world implications.

The film begins with Farrier, a television news reporter in New Zealand, checking out something he stumbles across online called “Competitive Endurance Tickling,” which is videos of dudes tickling each other on the internet.

He receives a strongly worded and taunting letter from the company he’s looking into telling him to back down, which only pushes him to press further. As Farrier traces the mystery, he winds up exposing the strange world of online tickling videos, as well as the shady, scary figure at its center.

Like “Catfish,” “Tickled” tumbles down an online rabbit hole and presents a series of twists that keep getting weirder. The film does an excellent job of ratcheting up tension, even if the climax doesn’t fully deliver. You want fireworks, you end up with whipper snappers.

Still, “Tickled” isn’t an easy one to shake, and in another unexpected twist, it winds up humanizing the villain at its center, making it sort of an origin story in reverse.

It also champions Farrier, who never oversteps his bounds as a journalist, but remains dogged in his pursuit of answers. Thanks to him, you might never look at tickling the same.

— Adam Graham, The Detroit News

Tickled

Wed September 21, 2016, 7:30 only, Muenzinger Auditorium

New Zealand, 2016, in English, Color, 92 min, 1.85 : 1, Rated R for language • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

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