Written & directed by Captain Marvel duo Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, Freaky Tales is due to release in theaters this upcoming Friday, April 4. The film stars Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, and Angus Cloud. Set in 1987 Oakland, the film follows an NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teen punks, neo-Nazis, and a debt collector on a collision course in a fever dream of showdowns and battles.

The film initially released last year at Sundance, but it wasn’t until a month or two ago when this was put on my radar. Between its stacked cast & retro tone, I was certainly intrigued. I have seen reviews from this being a perfect, flawless movie to a mixed bag. This is a mixed bag for me. There’s a lot of great components, but there’s a lot of confusing decisions that doesn’t quite hit the right tone that I was looking for.

Trying to explain what this film is really about is certainly a challenge. It tells 4 different stories taking place at real locations and real historical events in Oakland, California. Unless you’re in the area, I can’t imagine many others like myself understanding what’s going on. The best way to compare this to anything is Southland Tales where you’re thrown right into the madness and have to figure everything out on your own. The voiceover throughout doesn’t even cover what’s going on. If you’re like me who wanted to see it for the cast, you have to wait for about half of the film to get there. Like I said, this one is a mixed bag.

The film starts with some retro graphic with an established voiceover. It’s clear the film is trying to go for the 80’s aesthetic, yet it consistently feels like it’s not clear what style it wants to be. I honestly had no idea these were the same filmmakers behind Captain Marvel. When the credits rolled, I then pieced that together. Before that, I genuinely thought this was a directorial debut. The structure, tone, and visuals are never really sure what it wants to be. I’m not saying Captain Marvel was a masterpiece, but with what they are working with here, it looks like a major stepdown.

The first half dedicates its time to stories with characters that I personally don’t believe has that big of an impact. Sure, they have their connection with the ending, but based on what happens in the latter half, I wish the film was more focused on the stories in the second half. Since I knew who starred in the film, I was consistently waiting for them to show up. I can’t say I am all that surprised that the main actors have minimal screentime though due to how busy they already are. Mind you, this film is only 107 minutes. When you take that account, the talent that I was mainly interested in was only in the film for maybe 50 minutes or less. At least that’s what it felt like.

Once you get through the groundwork in the first half, the second half kicks it up a notch by introducing Pedro Pascal’s character who has a major impact on the story that goes until the very end. Ben Mendelsohn also serves as the overarching villain that he’s best suited for. Then, you have Jay Ellis who has a scene stealing moment in the finale. What he does here is a lot of fun and should give him more work in the future.

Part of what makes the second half, especially the finale, work is the soundtrack. I get that they are trying to match the tone, but they didn’t need to go as hard as they did, or maybe they did, because I was pumped. It is very exciting hearing the music I grew up on play in the backdrop as Jay Ellis enacts revenge. The finale still isn’t quite sure what it wants to do visually 100% of the time, but I still had a good time with it.

The film has been getting raving reviews from those who reviewed it positively. I am sure this would work best in a crowd, and I can even see this being a surprise for many, especially with the cameos that I won’t spoil here. Due to how shocking it can be, I wish I went into this knowing nothing about the plot nor who was starring in it. I think knowing who starred in it made it a bit disappointing. Even as a fan of Angus Cloud, I was let down with the small amount of screentime he was in. Much like the others, the cast is great. With a 107-minute runtime, it’s hard to properly flesh it all out.

Overall, Freaky Tales works best due to its cast and outrageous nature in the third act. This is a film that works best when you set no expectations whatsoever. For that, I can easily see this becoming a cult classic that I may even enjoy more down the road. At the moment, I can continue others saying it’s a masterpiece or just okay.

VERDICT: 2.5/5 (Okay)