‘Tickled’ Gets a Short Sequel Debuting On HBO This Month

The Tickle King arrives directly after the feature’s cable premiere.

Whether or not you’ve already seen Tickled, you’ll be interested in tuning in to the documentary’s HBO premiere later this month. Because it will be followed by the sequel. Well, it’s not being called a sequel, but the 20-minute short does have its own title — The Tickle King — and is being sold as a follow-up. Some might see it as little more than a bonus feature for the DVD, just showing up earlier with this cable debut. The exclusive short does just consist of footage from the festival circuit and in theaters as Tickled filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve were met with “bizarre and unsettling things.”

When it comes to documentaries, follow-ups can be anything from updates added to the films themselves or supplements on home video or whole sequels existing on their own. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, also an HBO release, could have just been a short follow-up on the celebrity response to the first film or on the suspicions of certain figures being the real killers. But that in particular just happened to warrant something longer. The Tickle King likely could have been a feature, too, if the directors wanted that. The press release announcing the short adds, “Amidst new threats, the duo begins to answer questions that remained once the credits rolled on Tickled, including whether the disturbing behavior they uncovered will ever come to an end.”

If you’re not familiar enough with Tickled, here’s my write up for a list of the best docs of 2016 over at Thrillist:

One of the wildest, most astonishing documentaries of the year, Tickled is the sort of strange nonfiction story that has to be seen to be believed, even if the film itself may have technical and ethical shortcomings. Farrier was a reporter for an entertainment TV newsmagazine in New Zealand who began researching a potential piece on an activity he heard about on the internet, “competitive endurance tickling.” Once he started digging, however, Farrier uncovered something much deeper and darker — and for the filmmakers, maybe more dangerous — than a curious international network of fetish videos. It’s best not to divulge any more details about the mysterious and controversial film, because it’s full of surprises.

Tickled and The Tickle King debut on HBO on Monday, February 27th starting at 10pm ET. Both the feature and the follow-up will be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, and HBO On Demand afterward.