Freaky Tales ★★★

Released: 18 April 2025

Director: Anna Boden/Ryan Fleck

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Dominique Thorne

Premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2024, Freaky Tales is an action-comedy directed by Captain Marvel filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring Pedro Pascal and Ben Mendelsohn amid an ensemble cast, the film is an anthology of tales that celebrate the weird, wonderful world of 1980s Oakland, California.

The weird and wonderful applies to the film’s diverse roster of characters such as punks, African-Americans, criminals and, questionably, neo-Nazis. Based on Fleck’s personal memories, Freaky Tales defines their characters through their unique identities, especially in the 1980s – when society began to establish themselves through music and politics without fear of social judgment. Although most of the characters are proud in their identities like punk rock lovers Tina (Li-young Yoo) and Lucid (Jack Champion) alongside friends Barbie (Dominique Thorne) and Entice (singer Normani), the only judgment comes from the local Nazis, who are led by a sleazy cop (Mendelsohn) and run rampant with endless slurs and violence. But as unsavoury as some of the characters are, the structure of Boden and Fleck’s narrative ensures everyone plays a part.

Nonetheless, the filmmakers place nostalgia at the heart with the weirdness behind Freaky Tales‘ originating from Pystopics, an unseen centre that encourages people to embrace their inner spirituality with eerily green-eyed followers. This unexplained mystical power – also characterised by flashes of neon green – empowers most of the characters to overcome adversity, resulting in some action-packed, cartoon-like fight scenes that are wince-inducing yet satisfying to watch. Furthermore, the film’s inclusion of supernatural abilities enables visual homages to classic 1980s sci-fi horrors such as Scanners or The Fury, reminding audiences that, cinematically, the decade was full of freaky tales.

Stylistically, Freaky Tales comes across as standard B-movie fare. From cue marks (or cigarette burns) to fuzzy screens, these little details elevate the film’s pulpy, chapter-defined storyline to appease retro-loving cinephiles but a few visual components cannot hide the film’s inconsistency. Despite its recurring characters and overlapping chapters, Freaky Tales doesn’t blend as well as it should as each one is working on their own agendas. Subplots involving redemption, romance or personal triumph stop as soon as a chapter is finished and along with a general lack of intrigue, the bundle of elements collectively fails to form a cohesive anthology.

The inconsistency also seeps into the casting, some of whom have more fun than others. Pascal and Mendelsohn are the biggest stars in the ensemble, respectively playing reformed hitman Clint and the creepy unnamed ‘guy’. Yet, the brief appearances of their characters result in toned-down performances that allows lesser known cast members such as Yoo, Normani and the late Angus Cloud to bring sass, heart and occasional chuckle – and especially that of Jay Ellis’ Sleepy Joe, who delivers a bout of badassery.

Overall, Freaky Tales is patchy in places but looks poised to become a fan favourite, packed with OTT gore, high energy, fun vibes and cinematic dose of chaos.

Freaky Tales is in select cinemas from 18 April and on digital platforms from 28 April.