“Freaky Tales” Is a Fun Bay Area Cult Film

Freaky Tales (Anna Boden/Ryan Fleck, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars

Full disclosure: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s new feature Freaky Tales feels made for me, as someone who grew up watching 1980s movies. Narrated by Bay Area rapper Too $hort, Freaky Tales is an anthology film set in Oakland, California, during the summer of 1987. It follows four different stories occurring on the same day: teenage punks Tina (Ji-young Yoo, Smoking Tigers) and Lucid (Jack Champion, Scream VI) have to defend their turf from Nazis; battle rappers Entice (Normani) and Barbie (Dominique Thorne, If Beale Street Could Talk) have to compete against a legend; old enforcer Clint (Pedro Pascal, Gladiator II) faces one last job; and real-life basketball star Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis, Somebody I Used to Know) avenges a loved one. Structurally, the film is reminiscent of other anthologies like Pulp Fiction or Mystery Train, with each story feeding into the next and eventually crossing over. However, what sets this film apart is its vibrant energy and love for 1980s Oakland.

After making a box-office smash with Captain Marvel, Boden and Fleck have scaled down to a more personal but no less ambitious film. Fleck grew up in the Bay Area during the late ‘80s, so he and Boden draw from his adolescent memories to recreate how it looked and felt (ex. going to punk shows, listening to mixtapes, watching the Warriors beat the Lakers, etc.). The characters they create in Freaky Tales feel like a community of underdogs facing uphill battles. Whether it’s pre-show nerves or owing money to a gangster, the odds are always stacked against them. But what Boden and Fleck celebrate is these people’s ability to persevere through music, joy, and even violence.

Visually, Freaky Tales references plenty of other films from the 1970s-‘80s, such as The Warriors, Repo Man, Fist of Fury, and Scanners, to name a few. Gen X audience members will probably recognize most of the shout-outs, but they never feel hacky. Out of the four stories, Pedro Pascal’s is the most serious. His grizzled performance adds real dramatic weight to a classic hard-boiled crime story. The battle rap is a great showcase for Bay Area music and culture, with Normani and Thorne showing the power of women in hip-hop. Tina and Lucid’s story is fun and romantic as they bash Nazi’s heads in together. They even have little Lizzie McGuire animated alter-egos running around alongside them (which I found charming). Sleepy Floyd’s story is the most surprising of the four. Watching Jay Ellis in such a drastically different role offers a welcome change of pace.

Lastly, I have to compliment the soundtrack, curated by R&B producer Raphael Saadiq; there are solid needle drops throughout. Prominent Bay Area figures feature in cameos, some of whom may surprise you and Ben Mendelsohn (To Catch a Killer) has a memorable turn as a corrupt police officer who sinks into being as scummy as possible. Overall, the film offers a subtle rebuke of white supremacy and the negative effects it has on society. Freaky Tales is a fun time and does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s a cult film waiting to happen, and I look forward to more people getting to see it.

George W. Campbell

George W. Campbell is a director/screenwriter/editor from Bowie, Maryland, whose films focus on themes of family and personal relationships. As a Nicaraguan-American filmmaker, he aims to highlight specific parts of his culture and personal experiences (songs, dances, foods, and language).