TALES FROM THE CRYPTO has its world premiere on Wednesday, June 24th, at 8:45 PM at Dances with Films 2026, and I had the opportunity to see it ahead of its release. Here’s my spoiler-free take:
TALES FROM THE CRYPTO is a comedy about the moment crypto and COVID collided in 2020, before both got ‘rugged.’ The jokes and the performances keep it compelling enough that audiences should give this fun film a chance, from director/producer/writer/actor and friend (full disclosure there) Marcus Niehaus.
This one is built for anyone who remembers what online friendship, crypto, and COVID actually felt like. TALES captures that Los Angeles world beautifully. Even buried in insider slang, the film shines brightest in the relationship between Ravi (Aryaan Ohri) and Nick (Niehaus). Their yin-yang dynamic grows into an instantly relatable friendship, especially in the in-person scenes.
TALES reminded me of the SBIFF film RELATIVELY NORMAL. Both unfolded during COVID and proved the era was anything but normal. RELATIVELY leaned into heartfelt drama. TALES dives deeper into the crypto market.
Where TALES stumbles is the family material. The crypto chaos and the Ravi-Nick friendship run on such specific, lived-in energy that the Ravi opening/bookend family scenes feel like they wandered in from a different movie. Niehaus clearly wants the heart to land, and in flashes it does. The film is sharpest inside its insider world. It loosens its grip the moment it steps outside.
Final Thought: What lingers in TALES FROM THE CRYPTO is the crypto slang, the Discord-era camaraderie, and the ache of a 2020 spent online. TALES captures all of it, and for the audience that lived it, hits a particular nerve with a smile.
