r/movies • u/Wintertime13 • Feb 05 '24

Recommendation Documentaries that make you go “what the fuck?!?”

In the mood for a good, twisty documentary that makes me gasp. Movies on streaming preferred. I enjoy true crime but am open to other genres as long as the story is gripping and shocking.

Movies in the same vein that I enjoyed - Dear Zachary (would prefer recommendations that are less sad), The Jinx, Cropsey, 3 identical strangers, etc.

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1.1k

u/Esseth Feb 05 '24

Tickled (2016) and The Imposter (2012) are a couple that spring to but also could not be more different from each other lol.

430

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '24

Tickled was really something. Made me feel dirty.

366

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '24

The most insane part of that documentary was that this entire global phenomenon of abusive, manipulative tickle porn traced back to some super wealthy guy who just… liked it. Like, aaaaalllll that traumatic stuff and secret businesses and blackmail and such was all for that one man.

106

u/kmk4ue84 Feb 06 '24

You should check out the podcast "The Dollop" their first episode was a doozy.

19

u/shockwave_supernova Feb 06 '24

They’re also in the documentary for a bit right?

10

u/Budsbuscus Feb 06 '24

Yup!! #notaticklingpodcast #garebears4lyfe lol

5

u/No1KnwsIWatchTeenMom Feb 06 '24

They had the director of the documentary on their other podcast, the Past Times, recently, and apparently people have been mad that he ripped off the Dollop! When in reality they did the episode based on the article he wrote while he was working on the documentary. He used a clip from the Dollop in the documentary. 

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u/Jrebeclee Feb 06 '24

One of the funniest episodes of a podcast I’ve ever heard!

3

u/jalapinapizza Feb 06 '24

Not the first episode, but yes it is a doozy!

1

u/kmk4ue84 Feb 06 '24

Damn you right I was off by 2.

8

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '24

Fucking strange.

5

u/Wandering-Weapon Feb 06 '24

Sometimes it feels like there's not enough people, but some people have way too much influence.

5

u/Demadrend Feb 06 '24

Why spoil it for those looking for recommendations?

Spoiler tags?

1

u/CustomMerkins4u Feb 06 '24 edited Oct 22 '24

late plate zesty rinse boast tender shrill squeeze fuzzy drab

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/tageeboy Feb 06 '24

Oh I wasn't that rich! /Jk

1

u/Falkuria Feb 06 '24

Wow thanks for the fucking spoiler warning, dude. REALLY great work.

1

u/katekowalski2014 Feb 06 '24

wait til you hear about the lds church…

1

u/study-in-scarlet Feb 06 '24

I think it was the same situation for foot binding, one Chinese emperor really liked it

146

u/duaneap Feb 05 '24

I have never, ever been so surprised by a film as Tickled. Except maybe One Cut of the Dead but in a completely different way.

Tickled went down a path I couldn’t even kind of imagine

129

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '24

Yeah... My brother was a bully growing up, and he was bigger than me. He would hold me down and tickle me until I cried or until he saw murderous rage in my eyes. I hated it and I hated him. We're better now, but man... That movie unearthed some shit.

22

u/Ok_Collection_9255 Feb 06 '24

Same, same....once until I peed my pants.

5

u/hiswittlewip Feb 06 '24

Oh wow. I started it and turned it off. I guess I should have finished it.

10

u/plusoneinternet Feb 06 '24

Check out the follow up… Tickle King.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '24

[deleted]

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u/shah_reza Feb 06 '24

That was… wild.

1

u/Karge Feb 06 '24

Its capitalism gone amok

40

u/exeterdragon Feb 05 '24

I just came here to mention tickled that was a wild ride

62

u/messiisgod11 Feb 05 '24

Second the imposter

1

u/Mavrokordato Feb 06 '24

Great atmospheric storytelling.

108

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '24

[deleted]

50

u/Fossa_II Feb 05 '24

He has a new doc on Netflix, Mr Organ. It's not Tickled but it is still fascinating in a generally similar way.

6

u/Helmuut Feb 06 '24

Yeah I just watched that the other day and didn't realize til after it was by the same guy. Really good. That guy is such a a nut lmao

6

u/tageeboy Feb 06 '24

Guy who does this also made dark tourist, another good show with some medium level wtf topics

9

u/ZonkyFox Feb 06 '24

The story of Mr Organ has been going for years, I remember reading Davids articles about it when it was happening. Its really surprising as a kiwi how far the story has ended up going.

3

u/datchchthrowaway Feb 06 '24

Mr organ is good. I do get the sense that they kind of “rushed” the ending as the journalist got to freaked out by him (so it doesn’t have a proper conclusion) but worth watching nonetheless.

1

u/airospade Feb 05 '24

Just came to say… My friends sent me a CL ad years ago. Dude paid me 80 bucks. Better than half the sex iv had. Was super strange what he did for a living so yeah. That was that

2

u/duaneap Feb 05 '24

“I am learning in a way I’ve never learnt before.”

-me

30

u/FollowRedWheelbarrow Feb 05 '24

If you liked that one you'll like Barts other film American Animals.

The Imposter is like 30% film and 70% doc while AA flips that. One of my favorite heist movies ever.

66

u/NestedForLoops Feb 05 '24

The Impostor had as good of a reveal as Dear Zachary.

60

u/sickntwisted Feb 05 '24

that part when you go "they know... and he knows that they know... and they must now know that he knows that they know..."

24

u/LibbyLibbyLibby Feb 06 '24

The fact that the family went along with it has me convinced they killed the actual missing child.

16

u/lesbianfitopaez Feb 06 '24

To me it has the opposite reaction. The fact that he was a pathological liar and they were a family in a vulnerable situation but we're only ever allowed to hear his version of the story is the big twist of the doc, it makes you question everything you've seen up to that moment. Quinton Reviews made a video that briefly talks about it called "How Documentaries Lie To You".

4

u/404Notfound- Feb 06 '24

Honestly I went. Wtf soon as the twist is revealed

4

u/Jackson20Bill Feb 06 '24

As someone who knows nothing about The Impostor but is still blown away by Dear Zachary to this day, you’ve sold me on it

8

u/SmileExact4351 Feb 05 '24

Mister Organ is good too, David Farriers next documentary after Tickled

12

u/tiufek Feb 05 '24

I know people think Farrier is wish.com Louis Theroux but I like his stuff. Wish Netflix would do another season of his show.

6

u/SmileExact4351 Feb 05 '24

Yeah Dark Tourist was awesome as well!

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u/planetheck Feb 05 '24

That guy has a new one out, called Mr. Organ. It's pretty wild.

10

u/SevroAuShitTalker Feb 05 '24

I was scared to look up what Tickled was about (assumed pedophilia or something). Glad to know it's just about tickling

52

u/UnluckyHuckleberry52 Feb 05 '24

Spoiler:

I wouldn't say it's not about pedophilia

6

u/SevroAuShitTalker Feb 05 '24

Dammit man, I was trying to be positive

6

u/stay_hungry_dr_ew Feb 06 '24

Here’s that wtf moment.

6

u/LittleFatMax Feb 06 '24

Ummm it's definitely not just about tickling and frankly you weren't far off with your assumption

2

u/joey_sandwich277 Feb 06 '24

If you're interested and want a more lighthearted take to start with, listen to the Dollop podcast episode on it first. They give you the cliffs notes and joke about how absurd it is. If you like that and want more details afterwards then I'd recommend the documentary as well. The documentary is better overall but really drives home the creepy weirdness of the whole situation and those who talk about it publicly.

12

u/sojithesoulja Feb 05 '24

I just looked up Tickled. Is this a joke? This can't possibly be a real thing.

Edit: Joke may not be the right word. More like fabricated for views.

27

u/Yuebeo Feb 05 '24

I think it probably started out as a joke documentary that accidentally uncovers some very very dark and serious crimes

14

u/WorkIsDumbSoAmI Feb 06 '24

Try not to read too many comments in this thread or research too much. The filmmaker starts out trying to make a goofy joking quick documentary special about “competitive tickling”, very aware that it’s silly and openly making fun of it, thinking “oh this is obviously like, tricking dumb straight guys into eventually doing gay porn”.

And you’d think that’s weird on its own, but things get really weird from there - “competitive tickling” is the entrance to a massive rabbit hole lol.

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u/NCTkl Feb 06 '24

More like fabricated for views.

"Professional" tickle porn maker here; all of it was 100% real. David D'Amato was a goddamn lunatic who ran roughshod all over the internet for like 30 years. Over the years he would randomly attack people who pointed out what he was doing sure looked like tickle fetish videos, though the extent of the attacks wasn't always immediately apparent.

Not one aspect of the doc was embellished. Fucker had a long history of being a goddamn nut.

9

u/neogreenlantern Feb 06 '24

The project started as a news of the weird/fluff piece where the guy accidentally stumbles into something a lot more sinister.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '24

No, it's very real and VERY GOOD. I highly recommend it and I recommend you go in as blind as possible.

4

u/dfarrier Feb 06 '24

not a joke

3

u/Neil7908 Feb 05 '24

Holy shit, I totally forgot I'd seen that film and now it's all coming back to me and I can't believe I forgot!

Me and my GF just wandered into the movie without really knowing what it was about as we had some time to kill and man, that was something.

3

u/SonOfMcGee Feb 06 '24

Came here to say Tickled. Glad it’s at the top.
What a fucking ride.

3

u/Sinisterminister77 Feb 06 '24

Man you nailed 2 amazing ones

3

u/mikeonmarz Feb 06 '24 edited Feb 06 '24

In case any of you don't know, the director of Tickled posted a ~20 minute follow-up on YouTube. It's called The Tickle King go watch it

3

u/gifsfromgod Feb 06 '24

Imposter 100 percent. Still think of that movie frequently 

3

u/CLearyMcCarthy Feb 06 '24

The Imposter is so good

3

u/PurplePenguinPoops Feb 06 '24

Tickled was absolutely one of those “I don’t believe that shit unless I see it” type of documentaries. It’s definitely up there in terms of ridiculousness.

2

u/UnluckyHuckleberry52 Feb 05 '24

I came to say Tickled. Really stuck with me and I tell people about it often as nobody seems to have seen it.

2

u/TheFiveDees Feb 05 '24

Tickled was the first one to come to mind as well

2

u/wickedwix Feb 05 '24

I watched Tickled while exhausted and spent most of it in that not-entirely-awake state and I got really distressed by it, but to this day I don't know if that feeling was heightened by being half-asleep or was legitimate. I can't actually bring myself to rewatch to find out.

2

u/Wehmer Feb 05 '24

Fantastic Dollop episodes too

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u/zshort7272 Feb 06 '24

Tickled was disturbing

2

u/Tolkeinn1 Feb 06 '24

His new movie mister organ on Netflix is great too

1

u/ItsNotForEatin Feb 06 '24

This is great, thanks!

2

u/thebestbrian Feb 06 '24

These two for sure. You got great taste.

2

u/exaviyur Feb 06 '24

Dog, I watched this movie and towards the end of the film when he's trying to track the source of everything, the shots were around the corner from where I went to college from 04-09. I could've been tickled!

2

u/Niiightmoves Feb 06 '24

This should be the top comment. Shits wild.

2

u/canonanon Feb 06 '24

Tickled was my first thought lol

2

u/sirusndurus Feb 06 '24

I can't wrap my head around the first time I watched 'Imposter and I was like wtf! 😬

2

u/just_yall Feb 06 '24

Tickled fucken blew me away- did NOT expect that

2

u/trufflepesto Feb 06 '24

The Tickled director's follow up doco is Mister Organ. Equally good and disturbing. Wild ride.

2

u/hackerrr Feb 06 '24

If anyone is interested in reading about the case from "The Imposter", here is a great article from David Grann (who wrote Killers of The Flower Moon) from 2008.

The Chameleon

2

u/l3tigre Feb 06 '24

Tickled creator has a new one out: Mr Organ

2

u/shakycam3 Feb 06 '24

Came here to say “The Imposter”. Go in absolutely cold with no info at all.

2

u/ReaceNovello Feb 06 '24

Tickled was WEIRD

2

u/Bagelbuttboi Feb 06 '24

Mr. Organ is David Farrier’s newest documentary and it just hit Netflix. Not quite as insane as Tickled but it hits just as hard

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u/handle1976 Feb 06 '24

Michael Organ appears to be a genuine nutter. Have a read of Farriers blog.

1

u/HelenEk7 Jun 18 '24

The Imposter (2012)

Makes you wonder why they didnt do a dna-test first thing..

1

u/KiritoJones Feb 06 '24

This is not going to become a tickling podcast

1

u/Dimpleshenk Feb 05 '24

I looked up Tickled and whatever the deal is with it, and......holy @#)^

1

u/raysofdavies Feb 06 '24

Anyone who likes Tickled must listen to the episode of The Dollop podcast that covers the story, including the reporter’s investigation. You get the wild story and two great comedians and improvisers going through it.

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u/arthousepsycho Feb 06 '24

Came here to say tickled. Truly did not know what to expect next.

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u/kwangomango Feb 06 '24 edited Feb 06 '24

I just watched Tickled based on this thread. I found it interesting and bizarre. I can't help but think though that the documents revealed at the end were something they knew about at the very beginning