“It wasn’t every day that a story like this hit the Town,” Too $hort narrates in the opening scene of Freaky Tales — the rolling intro credits and title card emulate vintage typography, nostalgic for those who lived through the ’80s and early ’90s. Lionsgate’s forthcoming film, Freaky Tales, is a thrilling, high-octane anthology capturing a not-so-average day in the Bay Area. Set against the stylized backdrop of 1987 Oakland, filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden pack a punch with their underdog story that champions anyone and everyone with real ties to the Town.
Singer Normani makes her acting debut as Entice, starring alongside her rapping bestie Barbie (Dominique Thorne). With big bamboo earrings, even bigger hair, and retro nylon jumpsuits, the rapping duo known as Danger Zone face off against Bay Area legend Too $hort in Chapter 2, Don’t Fight the Feeling. Many of the characters are inspired by real-life Bay Area folks.
The first chapter, The Gilman Strikes Back, follows a group of misfit friends (Jack Champion and Ji-young Yoo) who thrive in Oakland’s underground punk scene. Their graffiti-tagged asylum is overtaken by white Nazi skinheads who destroy their basement den and violently attack their pro-queer space. This inciting incident sets off the entire Freaky Tales plot, as most of the characters — unaware of each other — experience hateful confrontations beneath the iconic Grand Lake Theatre overhang. Bloody violence ensues as these punk pariahs reclaim their city. Oakland itself becomes a central character, with the cinematography shifting aspect ratios to capture different moments in time. Iconic landmarks like Loard’s Ice Cream, Lake Merritt, Sweet Jimmie’s, and Fish Ranch Road overlook appear throughout.
The motion picture is told in four wild, interconnected chapters that weave a unique story about life in Oakland. However, a cosmic shift brews in the background: electric green lightning takes over various characters’ psyches when they need it most — or is it just Bay Area resistance charged into a metaphysical power? Reminiscent of the green rays in Ghostbusters, this mysterious substance, labeled Psytopics, activates the underdogs to unify their community.
Jay Ellis (Insecure) plays Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, a Bay Area NBA legend who had his heyday playing for the Warriors in the late ’80s. Angus Cloud’s final role appears in Chapter 4, The Legend of Sleepy Floyd, as a crook and basketball stats intellectual in cahoots with a nameless police officer villain, played by Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn. Pedro Pascal plays a reformed hitman seeking revenge for his pregnant lover’s death. He crosses paths with the same cop and finds unexpected enlightenment from Tom Hanks at a video store while picking out a movie for a date.
With a Quentin Tarantino-esque lens, Freaky Tales pays homage to Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. The filmmakers make their bizarre characters feel tangible and emotionally grounded, while ensuring each scene stays unhinged and hella fun. Normani overcomes stage fright to battle a Bay Area legend. Jay Ellis avenges his family in true Black Samurai fashion. Pedro Pascal has a change of heart that makes him question his violent past. Fleck and Boden, especially Fleck as a Berkeley native, encapsulate the extraordinary feeling of growing up in the Bay — a place like no other.
At the Oakland special screening of Freaky Tales, the entire cast attended except Normani (who recently got engaged). The filmmakers made a poignant statement: “If you are not from the Bay Area, you will most likely not get this film because we made this for Oakland,” Fleck revealed. In 2024, Freaky Tales debuted at Sundance. After a year, it was finally picked up and hits theaters on April 4.
Normani also created a track for the film, featuring the chorus “What would it look like?” She and Dominique Thorne perform Bay Area dances in a flashy studio during the end credits, closing the film with them flying high across the lit-up Oakland skyline — a symbol that Bay Area dreamers are doers. Freaky Tales is a touching metaphor for reclaiming the city you love, before it’s overtaken by those who don’t respect it. As a Bay Area native myself, it was refreshing to witness.