Title – Freaky Tales (2024)

Director – Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel)

Cast – Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Ji-young Yoo, Tom Hanks

Plot – A series of semi-interconnected stories take place across Oakland in the heydays of 1987.  

“In 1987, Oakland was hella freaky”

Review by Eddie on 25/06/2025

Sometimes you have those real life experiences where someone is recounting a story or a memory that should be tagged with the “you really had to be there” sentiment, for as nice as it is for them to be recounting or reminiscing, no amount of energy or enthusiasm in their storytelling is ever going to get you feeling the same sense of emotions as someone who was never there, a sentiment that can be felt with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s latest directional collaboration.

Filmed all the way back in 2022, Fleck and Boden return to the their respective directors chairs for the first time since their box-office smashing Captain Marvel with Fleck in particular instilling a lot of himself into this late 1980’s Oakland set feature that is based in part off his experiences growing up in the city during his early years.

From what I can gather, Freaky Tales has nailed the tone and vibe of the city of Oakland and for anyone that has spent time in the area it’s likely that Tales will become an elevated viewing experience while for the rest of us less Oakland-infused viewers Fleck and Boden’s low-budget but spirited event is throwaway fun in parts but far from a mandatory watch offering.

Clearly inspired by the grand opus of multi-storied features Pulp Fiction, Tales is broken up into four interconnected stories taking place across 100 minutes in the city during the 1987 calendar year with punk rockers, Nazis, rappers, criminal underworld figures, corrupt cops and NBA players all playing their parts in this wild experience that should absolutely not be taken with any form of seriousness in mind.

Enlisting a talented array of performers for their colourful collection of stories, hot at the minute Pedro Pascal, regular collaborator Ben Mendelsohn, Oakland icon Too Short and even a scene-stealing Tom Hanks all join forces to bring Fleck and Boden’s vision to life that is often produced like it was an MTV music video from the era and is imbued with over the top violence and general comedic tones that culminates in Jay Ellis’s Sleepy Floyd’s supernatural confrontation with a gang that threatened his family.

An undeniably unique and specific feature film experience, there’s likely to be a significant place for Tales in the cult-film catalogue moving forward and an extra special place for it in the hearts and minds of local Oakland viewers but for the rest of us it’s more of a passable time waster than anything else of note, a shame since it clearly comes from a passionate and heartfelt place in the eyes of its directors.

Final Say –

Finally making its way into the public realm after a long journey to distribution, Freaky Tales has its moments but overall this wild and loose multi-storied experience is one that’s easy too forget for anyone not strongly connected with the city in which it takes place.

2 1/2 rap battles out of 5