Despite some flashes of intrigue, Freaky Tales ultimately feels like a movie coasting on its aesthetic rather than delivering a meaningful story. Boden and Fleck have proven themselves as talented filmmakers, but this effort lacks the emotional depth or narrative cohesion to make its ambitions pay off. Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks, and Ben Mendelsohn highlight the film’s eclectic ensemble cast.
‘Freaky Tales’ Movie Review
Few directors have had a stranger, more unpredictable decade than Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. After the indie success of Mississippi Grind (2015), they found themselves in the Marvel machine directing Captain Marvel (2019), a film that was both a massive box office hit and a critical mixed bag. Their latest, Freaky Tales (2025), continues their unusual trajectory—an ambitious, nostalgia-driven anthology set in 1980s Oakland that leans heavily on style but struggles to find a cohesive pulse.
Set against a gritty, neon-lit version of Oakland, Freaky Tales revolves around four violent, loosely interconnected stories, where an eerie emerald glow drifts through the city, binding the lives of its characters. The aesthetic is certainly compelling, with a carefully curated soundtrack and an attention to period detail that captures a version of the past now long gone. But while the film is rich in atmosphere, its anthology structure proves uneven, making it difficult to stay invested in every segment.
It’s clear Freaky Tales takes inspiration from Pulp Fiction and Slacker, aiming for that chaotic, time-bending, character-colliding energy. But where those films thrived on sharp, idiosyncratic dialogue and cultural resonance, Freaky Tales struggles to justify its fragmented storytelling. The star-studded ensemble—Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Dominique Thorne—is impressive on paper but rarely feels like a natural part of the world the film constructs. Even with its notable historical nods, including Jay Ellis’s portrayal of Sleepy Floyd in a reimagined version of his legendary 29-point playoff quarter against the Lakers, the characters feel detached, existing more as isolated vignettes than as pieces of a greater whole.
The four central stories attempt to explore different aspects of 1980s Oakland culture: teen punks (Ji-young Yoo and Jack Champion) take on Nazi skinheads, a rap duo (Thorne and Normani) battles for hip-hop recognition, a weary henchman (Pascal) contemplates redemption, and NBA All-Star Sleepy Floyd (Ellis) gets his moment of glory. There’s plenty of punk energy, a Too $hort cameo, and an undeniable love for Oakland’s history, but these elements don’t always translate into a compelling narrative.
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Despite some flashes of intrigue, Freaky Tales ultimately feels like a film coasting on its aesthetic rather than delivering a meaningful story. Boden and Fleck have proven themselves as talented filmmakers, but this effort lacks the emotional depth or narrative cohesion to make its ambitions pay off. Here’s hoping their next project finds a better balance between style and substance.
Rating: 4/10
Freaky Tales (2025)
- Cast: Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Ben Mendelsohn, Tom Hanks, Angus Cloud, Keir Gilchrist, Jack Champion, Dominique Thorne, Ji-young Yoo, Normani, Too $hort
- Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
- Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
- Runtime: 107 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: April 4, 2025
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