Tale of Tales

R

Released Apr 22, 2016

2h 5m

Fantasy

Adventure

Comedy

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List

83%

105 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Three fairy tales revolve around a king (John C. Reilly) who must slay a sea monster, a giant flea and a womanizing ruler (Vincent Cassel) who's in for a surprise.

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Critics Consensus

Visually splendid and narratively satisfying, Tale of Tales packs an off-kilter wallop for mature viewers in search of something different.

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Rachel

I wish they could have spent more time on each individual story, it seemed a bit chopped together and disjointed for me. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it. I do think this idea would have been much more better suited for a TV series.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

Logan D

A queen that will go to any lengths to have a child, a beloved flea, and a pair of old crones wooing a king. Based on a collection of fairy tales by Italian poet Giambattista Basile, titled Pentamerone, these are from the days when fairy tales were for adults. I found the film far more enjoyable than I predicted. The stories are just so weird and disturbing. There doesn't seem to be an overall point to the film as a whole and I do wonder how it would've appeared if each tale was told and resolved individually. Oftentimes the jumps from one story to another was awkward. If you're looking for something different, here it is.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Alec B

Perhaps one of the few "Fairy Tales for Adults" movies that keeps the whimsy of the source material. Even with the added violence and sexual content it never engages in deconstruction which is quite refreshing.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

Full Review

Brendan S

So bad. So bad. So unsatisfying.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/27/23

Full Review

Camila R

It's entertaining, but I wouldn't watch it again.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/26/23

Full Review

Simon R

3 incongruous amd very weird stories barely related to each other and more importantly impossible to see what the point of these different sories really is ! While the acting is good, the movie is not very captivating nor remotely entertainimg. The story ends make absolutely no sense. The end of each different story left me thing; "wtf". There is no satisfaction of any finely threaded story. Just a succesion of weird events with no "heads nor tails". Right up there with the most sensless movies i have ever seen amd a sentiment of a wasted 2 hours of cinematography. My wife shares my impressions.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/27/23

Full Review

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Matteo Garrone

Director

Salma Hayek

Queen of Longtrellis

Vincent Cassel

King of Strongcliff

Toby Jones

King of Highhills

John C. Reilly

King of Longtrellis

Shirley Henderson

Imma

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Tale of Tales: Trailer 1

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Tale of Tales: International Trailer 1

2:27

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

A timeless portrayal of the bonds of sisterly love, a theme amplified by both the defiance and pathos of Henderson's wonderful performance.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 19, 2016

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

The adult fairytale is a freakish, hybrid, disturbing creature, mostly forgotten in these days of Disney sanitisation, but Tale of Tales resurrects the genre with surreal humour and gothic horror.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 17, 2016

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

Tale Of Tales is a Felliniesque fantasy drama, distinguished by its lavish production design and very fluid camera work.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 17, 2016

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Though the film is decidedly not for children, it remains almost revisionist in its faithfully disturbing origins.

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 15, 2022

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Garrone's accomplishment follows in the footsteps of classic Italian auteurs, a carnivalesque metaphor on a grand scale with superb visual elements we used to see from directors like Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 30, 2020

Full Review

Daniel Barnes

Dare Daniel

Tale of Tales feels like David Cronenberg hijacked the set of Faerie Tale Theatre with an EXistenZ gristle gun. If only there was some more shape to this thing! Too many scenes struggle on awkwardly, like a slain animal that doesn't know it's dead yet.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 5, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Three fairy tales revolve around a king (John C. Reilly) who must slay a sea monster, a giant flea and a womanizing ruler (Vincent Cassel) who's in for a surprise.

Director: Matteo Garrone
Screenwriter: Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: RAI Cinema
Rating: R (Nudity|Bloody Images|Sexuality|Some Violence)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $92.1K
Runtime: 2h 5m

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