Writer/director duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel) present an ode to individualism in this ’80s-set anthology that’s humorous, violent and highly entertaining.
Taking place simultaneously in the sweltering melting pot of Oakland, California, where misogyny, racism, violence, and oppression are prevalent, the four stories follow a varied group of people whose lives and struggles get a little help from strange, green, glowing eyes.
First up, we have a group of young punks defending their club (holding a performance from legendary band Operation Ivy) against Nazis in the most spectacular way. The second chapter sees rappers Danger Zone – Dominique Thorne and Normani Kordei Hamilton – competing in a rap battle at a local club. Chapter three has thug-for-hire debt collector Clint (Pedro Pascal) completing one last job before his baby is born, when a face from the past reappears, causing an existential crisis of drastic proportions. Finally, Jay Ellis is real-life ex-NBA superstar Eric ‘Sleepy’ Floyd, who gets reimagined as a Kill Bill-esque vigilante, leading to a climax straight out of The Fury or Scanners.
Taking the Pulp Fiction approach to the anthology, the threads interweave along the same timeline and are presented in four separate chapters. Boden and Fleck don’t feel the need to elaborate on the fantasy aspect of the mysterious emerald power; it isn’t explored, just accepted. Instead, they take a fiery torch to illuminate the corrupt and violent world of Oakland in ’87. There’s a nasty ‘big bad’ who’s a constant throughout the segments, giving Ben Mendelsohn a chance to be more evil than Krennic. He’s not the only big name, of course, with the seemingly omnipresent Pascal being brilliant as the heavy with a heart. One particular uncredited cameo will raise quite a smile.
Boden and Fleck clearly have a lot of love for the forgotten-by-the-mainstream genre films of the ‘70s and ‘80s, and deliver a salute to the neon-lit sleaze that have become cult mainstays. Their stab at Tarantino territory manages to have its own voice and should sit proudly alongside its forerunners.
FREAKY TALES is streaming on Prime Video/
