SPREE: A Darkly Funny Social Media Satire

If there’s anything that can be said about the 2010s, it’s that it was a revolutionary decade for the horror genre in cinema, bringing forth a resurgence of classic genre conventions in updated fashion, in addition to providing a slew of unique concepts for the modern age. One of the most prominent of these is the “technology thriller,” a subgenre of horror movies that uses technology as a narrative tool, in the form of a supernatural force, a plot element, or most inventively, a cinematography technique. The two films that make up the Unfriended series are noteworthy for incorporating this form of storytelling into their narratives, and now we have another new arrival in the subgenre: Spree, directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko.

Spree begins in a unique way, yet one that feels familiar to those who have grown up in the age of YouTube personalities (“influencers,” if you will) searching for fame and using any means necessary to achieve notable status in the industry. Kurt Kunkle (Joe Keery) is one of the millions of young adults drifting in the cosmos, desperate for fame and attention. The film begins with a clip montage of a multitude of his videos, and if they didn’t know any differently, one might assume they were watching a documentary of sorts.

The viewer is further introduced to Kurt’s life in the form of a “Draw My Life” video, another unique way of transporting the audience into the mindset of this character, someone that, to an outsider to this circle of fame and self-obsession, seems completely overdramatized and unrealistic, yet to someone who has lived through the rise of people like Kurt, it’s not far from the truth. The real kicker comes in when it’s revealed that Kurt barely has an ounce of following after all his years of devoted uploading and fame-chasing, and that’s where the movie begins to evolve from a simple social media satire to something much more.

A Scathing Critique

It’s eventually revealed that Kurt makes his money by picking up passengers who use a rideshare app called Spree, not too far from the likes of Uber and Lyft. After all, he has to pay the bills somehow. We catch up with him near the beginning of a new concept he’s come up with dubbed “The Lesson,” the details vague and the setup mysterious, with Kurt live-streaming every minute of the day’s events.

As he picks up his first passenger, a seemingly straightforward ride takes a turn when the client reveals his white nationalist ideologies to Kurt, who in turn encourages him to take one of the complimentary water bottles in the backseat. The client drinks some only to erupt in coughs, as a YouTube tutorial flashback of sorts reveals that Kurt laced the water with poison for those who drink it. The day only gets more insane from there, as Kurt progresses further into murderous schemes, each more disturbing than the last.

It’s an incredibly unique setup for a film that essentially feels like a modern-day American Psycho, if Patrick Bateman was a clout-thirsty twenty-something who live-streamed every one of his murders for the world to see. Kotlyarenko‘s eye for the scathing critique of this cesspool of young adults who thrive on viewers and likes is razor-sharp (clearly drawing influence from films such as Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler), and his witty script adds to the immersion in this darkly funny horror-comedy. The set-pieces feel a little restrained at times, but Keery‘s magnetic presence dominates the screen and makes sure the viewer never takes their eyes away.

As the day progresses, Kurt grows increasingly delirious and hell-bent on obtaining as many viewers as physically possible, leading to a series of brutal scenarios that prove just how dangerous he really is. I won’t delve into spoiler territory here because Spree really is a film best experienced knowing as little as possible, but the story takes a slew of unexpected turns and while not all of them quite work the way Kotlyarenko might have initially wanted them to, it’s near impossible not to respect the ambition of the narrative techniques and usage of technology as a dreadful accompaniment to Kurt’s night-long rampage.

A Knockout Performance From Joe Keery

As mentioned earlier, Keery gives a performance that is simply unlike anything he has done before. He’s well-known for his performance in Netflix’s Stranger Things, but here’s to hoping he receives more roles like this one in the future, ones that continue to allow him to demonstrate his full capabilities as an actor in riveting, continuously shifting manners. He chews up every line of dialogue handed to him, bouncing back and forth between comedic and dramatic like a chameleon, even stopping more than once to carefully balance on the line between the two.

Sure, on the surface, this is a dark satire that uses slapstick violence as a way to shock the audience, but at its core, this is a story about narcissism and desperation for validation that is overwhelmingly sad when taken into account just how dangerous social media is. It manipulates us, shifts our personalities, changes us into completely different people than we were before, and I commend Kotlyarenko for being able to carefully underline his story with a thematic weight such as this.

The film’s main issue is its pacing. For the first hour, Spree balances nail-biting tension and dark humor to thrilling effect, concocting a devilishly fun and captivating horror-comedy that moves at an incredibly brisk pace while still managing to convey the themes it aims to get across to the viewer.

The last half hour of the film, while still intriguing enough to keep the viewer interested, really kills the momentum established throughout the rest of the film. The scenes that occur during this segment of the movie are just as important to the story and themes as everything prior, but it’s a shame that it wasn’t conveyed in a way that kept the marvelously fast pacing of that first hour. The film soon gets back on its feet, but at this point, the viewer needs time to readjust and as a result, the rest of the movie feels like it’s trying to deliver a solid conclusion to what came before it, yet isn’t consistently engaging enough in this regard.

Spree: Conclusion

Despite some glaring issues in keeping its momentum, Spree is an exceptionally fun time that serves as a chilling satire on the impact social media has on society and the way we are all complicit in this period in our history where self-promotion and branding is something many adults seek desperately to achieve validation from. The first hour is a near-perfect mash of tones, and even though the pacing does take a nosedive in the back half, Kotlyarenko provides a distinct approach to this material that I don’t think any other director could’ve conveyed as well as he did here.

It’s far from a flawless movie, but Kotlyarenko‘s acute storytelling methods allow the viewer to feel a sense of claustrophobia and discomfort in a way not many satires are able to effectively deliver. We need more filmmakers in the industry who are able to tackle deep, complex subjects like this with such humorous grace while still retaining the dark elements at the core of this story, and Kotlyarenko definitely succeeded in that respect. I’m undoubtedly excited to see what Kotlyarenko tackles in the future, and if he keeps going on this track, I predict an exciting career.

Have you seen Spree yet? What did you think of it? What other films critiquing social media do you enjoy?

Spree premiered at Sundance 2020. It was released on digital and VOD on August 14, 2020.

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