Spree (film)

Spree is a 2020 American black comedy horror film directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko. The gonzo-style satire follows a social media obsessed ride-hail driver played by Joe Keery. The film also stars Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney and Mischa Barton. It was executive-produced by Drake.[2]

Spree
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEugene Kotlyarenko
Produced by
  • Matthew Budman
  • Sumaiya Kaveh
  • Eugene Kotlyarenko
  • John H. Lang
Written by
  • Eugene Kotlyarenko
  • Gene McHugh
Starring
Music byJames Ferraro
CinematographyJeff Leeds Cohn
Edited byBenjamin Moses Smith
Production
company
  • Forest Hill Entertainment
  • DreamCrew
  • SuperBloom
Distributed byRLJE Films
Release date
  • January 24, 2020 (2020-01-24) (Sundance)
  • August 14, 2020 (2020-08-14) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$43,840[1]

Spree premiered on January 24, 2020 at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival as part of the NEXT category, and was released theatrically and via video on demand in the United States on August 14, 2020, by RLJE Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Keery's performance and the premise.

Plot

A young man named Kurt Kunkle is obsessed with being a social media star and becoming viral. A child he used to babysit, Bobby, is now an internet star who frequently makes livestreams and has high viewer numbers, making Kurt jealous. Kurt finds work as a driver for a rideshare app called Spree, then fits out his car with cameras and begins a new livestream titled "The Lesson", where he instructs viewers on how to become famous on social media.

Kurt starts picking up passengers and killing them with poisoned bottles of water that he hands out in his car. Despite this, he doesn't gain any viewers besides Bobby, who believes the killings are fake. One of the passengers Kurt accepts is Jessie Adams, a comedian with a large social media following. Kurt is awestruck by Jessie, but she is unimpressed by Kurt and his obsession with gaining followers and leaves the ride. Kurt later learns that Jessie will be performing in a comedy show that will be livestreamed to millions. Kurt goes to Bobby's house, demanding that Bobby share Kurt's stream, but Bobby refuses and starts livestreaming their argument, attracting a large audience. Kurt kills Bobby and takes his gun before livestreaming for Bobby's fans, who assume the murder is fake.

Kurt's father Kris asks him for a ride to a club where he is performing, claiming that a famous DJ called uNo will be there and promising that she will tag Kurt in a photo. When Kurt picks up Kris and takes him to the club, he approaches uNo; she initially refuses to tag him, but then asks him to take her to a taco truck with the promise of tagging him. While waiting for Kurt to get her some food from the truck, uNo discovers Bobby's gun and poses with it on a livestream before drinking some of the poisoned water and passing out. After realizing this, Kurt attempts to drive away but is stopped by two police officers, who grow suspicious of him. It is revealed that Kurt's murders have already become known to the public, with Kurt being called "The Rideshare Killer" after police are unable to identify him.

uNo wakes up and panics, shooting dead one of the officers before fleeing, pursued by the second officer. Kurt tries to flee, but he too is pursued by more police, forcing him to escape while crashing his car. With Kurt's murders becoming more well known, Spree is shut down. Jessie begins her show, performing a bit about her encounter with Kurt and how disgusted she is by people's desperation for social media fame, causing her speech to go viral. After getting drunk, she is picked up by Kurt via another rideshare app called GoGo, having killed the previous driver. Kurt unsettles Jessie, who tries to escape after learning he is taking her to his house.

Unable to get out of the car, Jessie strangles Kurt with a phone charger, causing them to crash, but Kurt recovers and beats Jessie unconscious. He arrives at his house and places Jessie's unconscious body outside before being requested by his now-eager viewers to kill Jessie. Distracted by a faulty camera, Kurt doesn't notice Jessie regaining consciousness. She manages to take control of the car and crashes into Kurt's house while trying to run him over. Kurt flees into the house while Jessie is confronted by an intoxicated Kris. The pair discover Kurt's dead mother, who had been killed at the start of his livestream. Kurt shoots his father dead and tries to kill Jessie, but she pins him to the wall with the car, killing him.

Jessie becomes a nationwide star after taking credit for disrupting Kurt's rampage, while Kurt and his killings become revered in small corners of the internet.

Cast

Production

Filming occurred in February 2019 around Los Angeles, California.[3] Keery worked closely with Kotlyarenko to understand his character, and the pair filmed in-character social media posts such as unboxing videos, shopping trips and vape reviews.[4][5] As research the cast also spent hours watching content from influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.[6]

Release

Spree premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. Shortly after, distributor RLJE Films paid $2 million to acquire the rights to the film.[7] It was released in the United States in theaters and via VOD on August 14, 2020.

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64%, based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 5.93/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Joe Keery's magnetic screen presence can't disguise Spree's shallow critique of social media culture -- although that lack of depth may be precisely the point."[8] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter praised Keery's performance, saying: "Stranger Things' sneakily charming Joe Keery gets the spotlight here, balancing the character's contradictory aspects (dork, fumbling people pleaser, psychopath) with ease" and "[to] the extent that it works, much credit goes to Keery, for finding the real human need inside this twentysomething cipher."[10] Dan Jackson of Thrillist also praised Keery's performance, writing: "One of the best parts of Keery's performance is the way he plays the strange combination of naive earnestness and calculated cynicism that drives a person like Kurt to act in such a desperate manner, begging for followers and turning every awkward interaction into an opportunity to hawk his cringe-inducing brand."[11]

Jessica Kiang of Variety gave the film a negative review, saying: "If you are in need of more reminders of the most extreme of the potential evils of internet interaction than you get every time you fire up an app, by all means, smash the like button on Spree. For the rest of us, the best advice might be to mute, block, vote down, unfollow or simply log off and go look at a tree."[12]

References
  1. "Spree (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  2. ‘Spree’ Review: Joe Keery Leads This ‘American Psycho’ for the Digital Age | Sundance 2020 Collider. 26 January 2020
  3. Brian Davids (August 14, 2020). "Joe Keery on 'Spree' and 'Stranger Things 4' Being Worth the Wait". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  4. Stranger Things' Joe Keery Is The Ego-Free Talent That Pop Culture Needs Right Now GQ. 30 June 2019
  5. “Sitting in Front of That Whiteboard for Two Days, Joe Came Up With Some Hilarious and Strange Drawings”: Eugene Kotlyarenko | Spree Filmmaker magazine. 24 January 2019
  6. How Logan Paul and Ninja Helped ‘Spree’ Cast Capture Influencer Culture Gone Wild Variety. 25 January 2019
  7. "RLJE Films Acquires Sundance Gonzo Satire 'Spree' In Near $2M North America Deal". Deadline Hollywood. January 31, 2020. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  8. "Spree (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  9. "Spree Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  10. 'Spree': Film Review | Sundance 2020 Archived 2020-12-27 at the Wayback Machine The Hollywood Reporter. 25 January 2019
  11. Social Media Thriller 'Spree' Is a Bloody, Funny Ride Through Online Hell Archived 2020-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Thrillist. 26 January 2020
  12. "'Spree': Film Review". Variety. January 26, 2020. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
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