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Arts & Culture

Trailer for Oakland Film ‘Freaky Tales’ Is a Love Letter to ’80s Bay Area Culture

Luke Tsai
The Oakland-shot film hits theaters on April 4.
Actor Pedro Pascal holds a burning piece of paper while seated inside a diner.
Pedro Pascal stars in 'Freaky Tales,' which takes place in Oakland in 1987. (Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)

Ever since everyone’s favorite internet daddy Pedro Pascal was first spotted filming near the Fox Theater in late 2022, Bay Area movie lovers have been buzzing with anticipation for the Oakland-shot film Freaky Tales.

Named after Oakland legend (and executive producer) Too Short’s 1987 hit single, Freaky Tales drew so much excitement at last year’s Sundance Festival, organizers had to add a second screening to the schedule.

Now, more fuel to fan the flames: Lionsgate just dropped the official trailer, which is full of Easter eggs for Oakland locals from the opening shot — an “East Bay Mix” mixtape getting popped into a car’s cassette deck.

“The underdog believes he can do the impossible,” Pascal’s voiceover narration says. “Defeat the bully. Sell enough mixtapes to get out of the hood …”

Cue the record scratch, as Too Short’s unmistakeable voice cuts in: “Now hold up, we’ve got to take it from the top.”

Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who was raised in the East Bay), the duo behind Captain Marvel, Freaky Tales is set in Oakland in 1987 and looks to be firmly rooted in ’80s Bay Area hustle culture. The trailer is packed with local landmarks and references: the Mormon temple lit up at night. Sweet Jimmie’s nightclub, now known as the New Parish. Warriors legend Sleepy Floyd (who famously scored a record-setting 29 points in a fourth quarter playoff upset against the Lakers) sword-fighting (!) against Nazis (!!) outside punk club 924 Gilman (!!!).

And while Late Night Video, the Telegraph Avenue video store where several pivotal scenes take place, isn’t real, the storefront is located right next door to a hair salon called Jasmine African Hair Braiding, which very much is.

Still shot from the 'Freaky Tales' trailer shows a "Late Night Video" storefront next to a braiding salon.
A view of Telegraph Avenue, as seen in the ‘Freaky Tales’ trailer. (Courtesy of Lionsgate Films)

In addition to Pascal, who plays a debt collector, Freaky Friday also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis and the singer Normani, and it’s the last film in which the charismatic Oakland actor Angus Cloud appeared before he died tragically in 2023. Oakland icons Tom Hanks and Too Short himself also make cameos.

“It wasn’t every day a story like this hit The Town,” Too Short’s narrator says toward the end of the trailer. Audiences will have a chance to see it for themselves on April 4, when the movie hits theaters nationwide.

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