Film Review: Spree

Spree was a very pleasant surprise for me. Generally any movie that puts its focus on the world of social media, influencer culture, and the hustle for online notoriety comes across as phony, overblown, or lacking anything really substantive to say. While Spree is not without its faults, it’s one of the very few films that seem to authentically capture the visual language and aesthetic of things like livestreaming, and the way internet culture enables certain kinds of toxic behavior. It’s certainly the best to explore this area of the modern world since Eighth Grade.

The film follows Kurt (Joe Keery), who also goes by his username, @KurtsWorld96. He aspires to fame, and has posted video online for a long time, but his views have been minuscule at best, and barren at worst. At his most deserpate point, he comes up with a campaign that will supposedly make him go viral, going by the name #TheLesson, with the help of his friend, a successful livestreamer, Bobby BaseCamp (Joshua Ovalle). However, as he begins his day driving around for the rideshare company, Spree, while livestreaming, it is revealed that his plans involves killing his passengers.

The film is definitely acting as social commentary, but for the most part, it keeps most of its pretensions on the down low, honing in on the darkly funny journey that Kurt takes through the day, trying to find more creative ways to kill people so his viewer count goes up. The more gruesome things get, the more hits he gets. Seeing it all unfold is quite entertaining, and the filmmakers manage to keep shaking things up as it goes along, making sure things don’t get too repetitive or stale, not unlike the people watching Kurt’s livestream.

Most people, myself included, know Joe Keery from his work on Stranger Things. The most recent season being one of his better performances, and with Spree, he showcases a lot of range that the show never quite offered. As wild as the film gets, he does a wonderful job in keeping the character rooted in fears and desires that are all too real, the desire to be seen, the desire to have meaning, not just to himself, but to others. Anyone who puts themselves out there on the internet, no matter what shape or form, will find a connection. At least, in the opening moments of the film where we get a peak of Kurt’s life before he completely goes off the deep end.

Keery spends almost the whole film on screen, and he carries it very well. But there are a few supporting players worth taking note of. David Arquette shows up as his deadbeat dad, who works as a DJ/club promoter. While he doesn’t have a ton to do here, he brings the kind of presence that tells you a lot with very little, really selling the hardships he’s going through after his divorce, his desire to connect with his son, etc. The other, more substantial, character we see is Jessie Adams (Sasheer Zamata), who comes in briefly as a passenger in Kurt’s car before leaving. She’s perhaps the only decent person in the film, a comedian who had similar ambitions as Kurt, but has achieved them through hard work. She now has a strong following that she is still reckoning with, especially in balancing it with her personal life.

The film is made utilizing a setup in Kurt’s car where he has numerous GoPro cameras, and the livestream footage from Kurt’s phone is also spliced into the screen, where we see the viewcount, as well as all the comments he receives, some of which are quite amusing. The film is directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko, who also co-wrote the film with Gene McHugh. I’d be fascinated to see what this script looks like because so much detail is put into capturing the look and the vibe of a real livestream in all the weird glory. It’s a film that gets the details just right, and used wonderfully for comedic effect. I’m thinking of one moment where a frustrated Kurt confront Bobby, who is really annoyed that Kurt shows up in his house. He eventually plays along with whatever Kurt is doing, and begins his own livestream, going from his serious mood to suddenly going all “whazz up, it’s ya boi, Bobby Basecamp!” It’s delightful, but it also grounds the film very effectively.

The places where Spree stumbles a bit are largely minor and inconsequential, with the one exception of a sequence towards the final act where we see Jessie do a standup performance, and she goes on a bit inspired by a cringey interaction she had with Kurt earlier where he practically begged her to follow him, saying he’ll follow back, and they should collab and stuff. From there, she more or less proceeds to explain all the themes of the film rather blatantly, about the hustle, about the way people see everything as a way to build their brand, about the lack of real, genuine communication, and obsession with social media presence. The film lays it all bare, and while I’m not sure how else the film should approach this moment, I did find it to be too easy a move for a film that seemed to be a little smarter than that. However, when it was all said and done, I had a very good time watching the film. It’s well made, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it has a kinetic energy that it maintains for the entire runtime. Joe Keery is terrific here, showing that he can do much more than what we’ve seen from him already. And while the film may have its flaws, it ending is one of the stronger ones I’ve seen all year, a montage that encapsulates the film’s messaging in a dialogue free montage that digs into the sad and horrifying reality of being extremely online, and how those attitudes have seeped into our world. Good stuff.

 

Spree will be released in theaters, drive-ins, on demand and digital platforms on August 14th.