An NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teenage punks, neo-Nazis and a debt collector embark on a collision course in 1987 Oakland. A film by Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, starring Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Normani, Dominique Thorne, Jack Champion, Ji-young Yoo, Angus Cloud, Keir Gilchrist, Michelle Farrah Huang, Jordan Gomes, Demario “Symba” Driver, Aphids!, Gulch, Too $hort, Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, Tim Armstrong, Marshawn Lynch, Marteen, and Tom Hanks.
FREAKY TALES
Ryan Fleck • Anna Boden
(2025)
Written and directed by the American filmmaking duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, “FREAKY TALES” is an entertaining dark action-comedy that weaves together four interconnected stories set in 1987 Oakland. The film unfolds through four distinct chapters, each featuring its own narrative and cast of main characters.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Gilman Strikes Back
Lucid (Jack Champion), Kohlrabi (Marteen), and Tina (Ji-Young Yoo) step out of the Grand Lake Theater after catching a screening of the 1987 horror film “The Lost Boys.” As they exit, they spot a pickup truck full of Nazi punks harassing people outside.
Later, they hit up a punk concert on Gilman Street where the same Nazi group crashes the show, attacking the crowd and trashing the music equipment before taking off.
The next day, the community holds an emergency meeting to figure out what to do if the Nazis return. After some heated discussion, they vote to stand their ground and organize a counterattack for when the Nazis inevitably come back.
Lucid gives Tina a spiked bracelet to use as her weapon against the Nazis. There’s an obvious spark between them, and their friendship gradually blossoms into something more romantic.
That night, when the Nazis roll back to Gilman, Lucid and Tina are on a payphone, talking to someone on the other end. Hearing the commotion, they quickly cut the call short and rush to join their fellow punks, who’ve armed themselves for the showdown.
During the chaotic rumble, Tina saves Lucid by attacking the Nazi leader with her spiked bracelet. Overwhelmed and beaten, the Nazis finally retreat, peeling out in their pickup trucks.
DON’T FIGHT THE FEELING
Time shifts back to where chapter 1 began, but now we see it from a different perspective as moviegoers spill out of the Grand Lake Theater after catching a screening of the 1987 horror film “The Lost Boys.” Aspiring rap duo Danger Zone, Barbie (Dominique Thorne) and Entice (Normani), are verbally assaulted by the Nazis driving by. While Barbie heads back inside to find her bus pass that she left in the bathroom, Entice is approached by Lenny G (Jordan Gomes), who recognizes her and her friend from their performance at an open mic night at La Peña.
When Barbie gets back, Lenny G makes his introduction, mentioning he works with the famous rapper Too $hort. He invites the girls to join Too $hort on stage at his upcoming show, explaining that the rapper’s looking to mix things up with a battle rap segment during his set. Barbie and Entice jump at the opportunity.
Later, while working their shift at Loard’s ice cream and candy shop, Barbie and Entice are sexually harassed by a police officer (Ben Mendelsohn). Entice has to hold herself back from doing something reckless. After the cop leaves, Barbie lays into a customer (Ryan Tasker) for standing by and doing nothing while they were being harassed.
That evening, Barbie and Entice face off against Too $hort in a rap battle at Sweet Jimmie’s club. Performing as the duo Danger Zone, they completely steal the show, winning over the crowd and earning Too Short’s respect.
After the show, they board a bus home. But just after the driver (Marshawn Lynch) drops them off, a bolt of mysterious green lightning strikes the vehicle. Suddenly, the bus lifts off the ground and soars into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness.
BORN TO MACK
A pregnant Grace (Natalia Dominguez) waits in the car while her husband Clint (Pedro Pascal), a debt collector, heads into Late Night Video to collect money for his boss. They don’t notice a distraught young man, Antonio, watching them from another car parked at the corner. With a baby on the way, Clint is determined to complete this one final job for his boss before leaving the criminal organization to focus on starting a family.
Inside the video store, Clint runs into the owner Hank (Tom Hanks), who mistakes him for a regular customer and launches into a discussion about his top five underdog movies. Though initially confused, Clint plays along politely as Hank enthusiastically describes his favorites: Rocky, Hoosiers, The Dirty Dozen, and The Verdict. Just as Hank is about to reveal his number one pick, teasing it with a Roger Ebert quote about cinematic miracles, Clint cuts the conversation short and hands Hank a list of movie titles. These aren’t actual rentals but code words to access the underground poker room hidden within the store. Just as Clint is about to enter the hidden room, he asks Hank what’s number one. Visibly disinterested, Hank casually replies that he’ll tell him when Clint returns. However, when Clint comes back out, Hank has already disappeared.
Hank’s number one underdog movie is the 1979 coming-of-age film “Breaking Away” directed by Peter Yates, about four working-class friends who have recently graduated from high school and are uncertain about their futures. Roger Ebert awarded “Breaking Away” a perfect score of 4 out of 4 stars, praising it as “Movies like this are hardly ever made at all; when they’re made this well, they’re precious cinematic miracles.”
While chatting with another clerk (Sam Skolnik), Clint doesn’t notice Antonio (Sedrick Cabrera) staring him down from behind, his eyes mysteriously glowing green. Suddenly, Clint’s nose starts bleeding. When he heads back to Grace waiting in the car, Antonio follows him out and pulls a gun. Antonio reveals that Clint killed his father seven years ago and now he’s here for revenge, brushing off Clint’s desperate apologies and claims that he’s changed.
Just as Antonio’s about to pull the trigger, Grace fires at him to protect her husband. Startled, Antonio squeezes his trigger, the bullet missing Clint but hitting Grace instead. Antonio flees the scene, and despite rushing her to the hospital, Grace dies from blood loss.
In the parking lot, after losing his wife and unborn child, Clint loses all will to live and decides to commit suicide. But he’s interrupted by a kid (D’Angelo Mixon) who approaches Clint’s car trying to sell his mixtape. Without any cash on hand, Clint trades the mixtape for two basketball game tickets he took from a debtor earlier, which the kid happily accepts.
Clint enters Dick’s Restaurant and walks past Lucid and Tina, noticing the spiked bracelet. Inside, he meets Dawson (Max Carpenter), who tells him that their boss wants Clint to do “the warrior thing,” referencing the basketball players. When Clint refuses, Dawson threatens him, warning that their boss will come after Clint and everyone he loves.
As Clint exits the restaurant, he passes Tina again and asks to see the bracelet. When he asks who it’s meant for, Lucid replies, “It’s for the Nazis.” Clint looks at Tina and offers blunt advice: “Aim for the neck.”
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY FLOYD
On May 10, 1987, Travis (Angus Cloud) and his partner (Michael Xui Sommer) break into Warriors star Sleepy Floyd’s home. They’re part of a crew executing an elaborate plan: simultaneously robbing eight basketball players’ houses during the Lakers-Warriors playoff game, counting on the players’ families being at the arena and their homes empty.
Then something unexpected happens. Sleepy’s mother (Cheryl Vienna) starts feeling ill during the game, so his girlfriend Andrea Harris (Alexis Zollicoffer) and his brother Tim (Brandon Davis) volunteer to take her home. Upon arriving home, they encounter Travis and his partner, who are busy trying to drill into Sleepy’s hidden vault, where Sleepy keeps his extremely rare and valuable auction items. Interrupted by Sleepy’s family, Travis and his partner shoot them and flee the premises.
Still in shock and struggling to process the burglary and his girlfriend’s tragic death, Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis) receives a call from Lucid and Tina. They tell him they might know who killed his girlfriend, explaining they were at the diner when they overheard Dawson talking about some shady job involving basketball players. After Dawson left, they decided to follow him to a house. When they heard about what happened, they knew they had to reach out to Sleepy.
As it turns out, Sleepy is no ordinary guy. He’s a vigilante with supernatural martial arts abilities, and now he’s dead set on hunting down everyone involved and making them pay for what they did to his family.
While not all chapters are equally entertaining, with some feeling a bit dragged out and somewhat irrelevant, “FREAKY TALES” remains an impressive anthology, particularly in parts 3 and 4. At first I was under the impression there would be vampires since they’re mentioned at least twice in the beginning of parts 1 and 2, but it’s revealed to be inexplicable supernatural powers instead, with no vampires in sight.
Part 1 uses cartoonish graphics, likely inspired by the 2010 cult classic “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” but cranks things up with visceral streams of blood that make it feel even more gruesome.
Part 2 is probably my weakest link in the film. The main characters end up feeling like background players by the final act, and despite one solid rap battle sequence, the storyline just doesn’t grab you the way parts 1 and 3 do.
Part 3 is very good with its excellent script and clever mystery buildup. At one point, when Clint comes out of the hidden room to find Tom Hanks’ character replaced by another guy, I really thought he had entered the Twilight Zone. It would have been awesome if he actually crossed over to another dimension. But why do Clint’s facial scars keep changing?
Part 4 delivers a Kill Bill-style showdown that’s absolutely thrilling. The action is wildly entertaining, featuring amazing editing that’s not just precise but also hilarious. This section serves up several truly memorable kills.
FREAKY TALES premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 18 January 2024. The film had a limited theatrical released in the United States on 4 April 2025. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 18 April.
