The new movie from Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck will be having its premiere at Sundance
“Freaky Tales” / U.S.A. (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, Producers: Poppy Hanks, Jelani Johnson) — In 1987 Oakland, a mysterious force guides The Town’s underdogs in four interconnected tales: Teen punks defend their turf against Nazi skinheads, a rap duo battles for hip-hop immortality, a weary henchman gets a shot at redemption, and an NBA All-Star settles the score. Basically another day in the Bay. Cast: Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normani Kordei Hamilton, Dominique Thorne, Ben Mendelsohn, Ji-Young Yoo. World Premiere. Fiction.
After a snowy Wednesday in Park City dampered some of the arrival fanfare of previous festivals, Sundance soaked up the sun on Thursday’s opening day. With plenty of powder to lend an idyllic backdrop to selfies and social media updates, the festival crowd was buzzing in line for the day’s largest film opening: “Freaky Tales,” taking the coveted early evening spot at the Eccles Center. Dozens of stand-by hopefuls were left in the cold for the popular event though, which kicked off the festival with a riotous screening.
The film marks a Sundance homecoming for director Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, whose breakout hit was the 2006 Sundance favorite “Half Nelson”; the pair most recently helmed the decidedly not indie 2019 superhero flick “Captain Marvel.” “Freaky Tales” is a return to their scrappy roots: An anthology horror-thriller-comedy that pays tribute to ’80s Oakland, the film stars Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normani, Dominique Thorne, Ben Mendelsohn, Ji-Young Yoo and the late Angus Cloud — not to mention a secret A-list cameo from an actor with Oakland ties that brought the house down.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are longtime Sundance staples, launching their career with indie festival favorites Sugar, Mississippi Grind, and Half Nelson. Then, four years ago, the two directors cashed their Marvel check, helming the superhero flick Captain Marvel and packing it with CGI spectacle. Now, the pair have returned to the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, this time with an ambitious anthology story that attempts to marry both worlds. The result? Freaky Tales, an epic, nostalgia-fueled odyssey that blends intimate character drama and bone-crunching action.
And boy, is it bone-crunching. Freaky Tales is a gory, giddy joy, a genre-bending fairytale set in 1987 Oakland. Fleck himself grew up in the area, and the film brims with hometown affection, telling four separate stories about four different Bay Area underdogs. Part one sets the zany, blood-spattered tone, checking in with a group of Gilman Street punks as they defend their territory from a squadron of Nazi skinheads. Part two shifts focus to aspiring rappers Barbie (Dominique Thorne) and Entice (Normani) — a.k.a. Danger Zone — two BFFs prepping for a high-stakes rap battle against local legend Too Short (Symba). Pedro Pascal headlines part three, starring as a longtime debt collector and soon-to-be father named Clint, who hopes to finally escape his criminal career. And part four centers on legendary NBA All-Star Sleepy Floyd (an excellent Jay Ellis), chronicling his storied triumph against the Showtime Lakers before shifting into a fantastical and honestly jaw-dropping tale of fictional, sword-wielding vengeance. (Frequent Boden and Fleck collaborator Ben Mendelsohn also appears here for yet another one of his signature, scenery-chewing villains, this time playing a corrupt cop referred to only as “The Guy.”)
Each of the four stories intersects and overlaps, anchored by a mysterious green glow that zips across the sky or flickers in certain characters’ eyes. The light is never fully explained: Is it alien? Is it the work of a New Age-y cult called “Psytopics,” which repeatedly pops up throughout the story? Or is it the spirit of Oakland itself, some sort of strange, ethereal magic that powers the city’s identity? That unexplained magic and Boden and Fleck’s heightened tone give the entire film a dreamlike quality, making it feel a bit like an urban legend that’s been told and retold so many times that the embellishments are now indistinguishable from fact. After all, who cares about reality when the retelling is this much fun?
Some of the segments are stronger than others: The second chapter is a particular highlight, as Normani and Thorne steal every frame they’re in. The two actresses lend a lived-in believability to Entice and Barbie’s friendship, whether they’re trading lyrics on stage or fending off creepy customers at their day job at an ice cream shop. Together, the pair are magnetic, and it’s easy to imagine them headlining their own neon-drenched feature-length film. The punk segment is a bit less successful: Sure, the music rules, and the anarchists-versus-Nazis brawl is filled with bloodthirsty catharsis. But the plot boils down to a fairly conventional love story, as the lovesick Lucid (Jack Champion) tries to work up the courage to confess his feelings for the way-cooler-than-him Tina (Ji-young Yoo). It’s all very sweet, but it doesn’t quite hit as hard as some of the film’s other, more memorable moments.
Pascal also deserves special mention for his turn as the grizzled Clint: The actor has essentially built his career playing rugged enforcers with a secret soft spot (see also: The Mandalorian, The Last of Us), and here, he returns to similar territory, this time as a debt collector returning for — you guessed it — one last job. One moment, Clint is all danger, breaking a target’s fingers with the methodical professionalism of someone who’s been doing this a very, very long time. The next, he’s softened completely, daydreaming about his future with his pregnant girlfriend (Natalia Dominguez). One of the film’s best scenes comes during his segment, where he trades quips with a gatekeeping video-store clerk (played by a surprise A-lister in a cameo that’s too delightful to spoil). Pascal can instantly shift between menace and melancholy — and it serves as a stark reminder of what he can do when his face isn’t hidden beneath a shiny chrome helmet.
Between all the Nazis, rap battles, punk shows, and detours, that’s a lot of movie to squeeze into 106 minutes. Indeed, Boden and Fleck pack every frame with a more-is-more aesthetic, as green lightning bolts zing across the sky and blood spurts in glorious, exaggerated arcs. (Sleepy Floyd’s triumph on the court is told through cartoonish 2-D animation.) The film’s intersecting storylines and hyperbolic violence lend the film a Taratino-esque quality, and at times, it feels like Freaky Tales is attempting to do for 1987 Oakland what Once Upon a Time in Hollywood did for 1969 Los Angeles — part violent historical rewrite, part love letter to a bygone place and time.
It’s a hyperspecific vision of the Bay that won’t connect with everyone, and in truth, Freaky Tales seems destined to be more of a cult favorite than a genre-hopping blockbuster. But even with all the psychic energy and violent revenge fantasies, it’s the performances that help keep this tale grounded. Actors including Pascal, Normani, Thorne, Ellis, and the late Angus Cloud (who has a small but memorable role as one of Mendelsohn’s henchmen) prove that the city isn’t nearly as interesting as the people who live there. And sometimes, it’s the freaks who really do have more fun.
it's weird that the aspect ratio changes even in trailer, I guess one or two stories have different aspect ratio than the rest?
anyway, looking forward to this
Named after the iconic 1987 Oakland hip-hop track from Too Short, “Freaky Tales” is the latest film from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the husband-and-wife directing team behind “Captain Marvel.” Nearly a year and a half after premiering at Sundance 2024, the film is gearing up for a full theatrical release on April 4. It’s a true love letter to Oakland, which is where Fleck grew up.
“I’ve been thinking about [the film] ever since that Sleepy Floyd game on May 10, 1987,” Fleck said at the Sundance premiere of the film, referencing the Warriors playoff game where Floyd scored 51 points. “Which was phenomenal. It felt like the underdogs could at least win one … this is sort of like my 12-year-old fantasy.”
The film features four interconnecting Bay Area stories that range from myths about a robbery at Warriors legend Eric “Sleepy” Floyd’s home to a rap battle to a brawl at beloved Berkeley punk rock venue 924 Gilman Street. In addition to providing the title, Too Short also served as an executive producer and makes a brief cameo.
The film premiered at Sundance 2024 to a rowdy audience and mixed reviews from critics (it sits at a 69% on the Tomatometer), with star Pedro Pascal gleefully recounting a “crazy f—king night” of filming on location at an Oakland mansion. Pascal plays the role of Clint, a gun for hire who’s convinced to take one last job, but he’s far from the only celebrity involved. The cast is stacked with talent, including Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Tom Hanks and Angus Cloud, the Oakland-born “Euphoria” star who died in 2023.
Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have kept busy since their 2019 foray into the world of big-budget Hollywood franchise filmmaking with their Brie Larson-starring MCU entry “Captain Marvel,” mostly turning their attention to the small screen, with directing gigs on “Mrs. America” and “Masters of the Air.” But for their first film back post-Marvel, they wanted to get a bit more personal.
How personal? Their raucous, wild “Freaky Tales” — which includes four interconnected stories, all set in Oakland in 1987 — is the result of not just years of dreaming, but entire decades. Oakland native Fleck has been wanting to make a film called “Freaky Tales” (just like the Too $hort song, which plays in the film, which also boasts the Bay Area rapper as both narrator and executive producer) since he was a kid, a dream he drafted his long-time filmmaking partner into, oh, about 20 years ago.
The result is a multi-pronged anthology that serves as a love letter to a very specific time and place,as Boden and Fleck’s script weaves together true events (like the first vignette, about local punks taking on skinheads, or the final one, which builds off an incredible Warriors game toplined by star player Sleepy Floyd) with an untethered pop cultural sensibility. Plus: a giant cast of both established stars (Pedro Pascal and Ben Mendelsohn) and up-and-comers (Jay Ellis, Normani, Jack Champion, Ji-young Yoo, Dominique Thorn, and the late Angus Cloud).
Ahead, Boden and Fleck tell IndieWire about the many inspirations for their “Freaky Tales,” including actual true stories, Ben Mendelsohn’s very real love for Too $hort, getting into the Pedro Pascal business, and a generous dose of out-there superhero dreams.
Well, it seems Lionsgate didn't try very hard to give this a major push, but still, it's clearly a labor of love for Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and going back to the world of indie filmmaking feels absolutely right for them, and at the same time, it's wild that they've made something that feels so low-budget while still getting some great A-list stars like Pedro Pascal, Brad Mendelsohn, Dominique Thorn and the late Angus Cloud, to say nothing of a
[Show spoiler]Tom Hanks
cameo that was a delightful surprise!
Here's hoping Boden & Fleck will keep making a lot of movies like this, it seems to me that's what's more fun for them.
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