Content Warning: This review discusses some topics that might be triggering to some audiences. Read at your own discretion.
The world of social media influencers vying for clicks, looks, retweets, and fans is a sick one, and that’s never been more apparent than it is now, during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are stuck inside their homes, and anyone with even the smallest bit of celebrity status is desperate for attention, scrambling to create content with quantifiable impact. And as we’ve seen in such horrors as the celebrity “Imagine” cover, they more often than not…suck at it. Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Spree couldn’t arrive at a better time, as it centers Stranger Things star Joe Keery as a millennial wannabe influencer whose thirst for fame turns him into a serial killer.
Aspiring social media superstar – and definite incel – Kurt Kunkle (Keery), going by the handle @KurtsWorld96, has never gotten more than a few likes on his bland “comedy” content. That might have something to do with the fact that he is far from his hometown of Los Angeles, which would have been a perfect location from his deluded dreams. His former friend, Bobby (played by Vine star Josh “Jared 19” Ovalle), has no trouble drumming up the views and fans, giving Kurt even more trouble than he’d like. In reality, Kurt is down on his luck – failed out of college, unable to get a job, and mercilessly abused and harassed by many people in his life. He attempts suicide, and after that attempt takes to social media – and a variety of platforms at that – as a way to vent, release frustrations, and make sense of the world. It is through his browsing that he figures out that to catch viral attention he needs to do something extreme, and in a move I can only describe as Joker but an influencer, he starts killing people, live on camera, while driving for a rideshare known as Spree. Kurt’s passengers include a serial rapist, a 4chan-browsing white supremacist, and a misogynistic reality TV star, each one a faction of the social underbelly that Kotlyarenko – and by extension, Keery’s Kurt – are trying to dismantle. And these people are all oblivious to the “Spree Social” livestream feature that Kurt is using to broadcast and report their eventual deaths. The naming here is meaningful – “Kurt Kunkle” is an obvious reference to Kip Kinkle, the schizophrenic high school student known for the first “big” school shooting in American history with the 1998 Thurston High shooting. “Spree” is possibly a reference to “spree killing” – the murder of multiple victims in a short time, one step down from being a serial killer. The flashy gore jumpcuts and Kurt’s dead eyes and Patrick Bateman-esque phony grin make these references even more apparent.
Eventually, Kurt scoops fame-hungry L.A. comedian Jessie Adams (Sasheer Zamata) who has the kind of fanbase Kurt hopes to achieve. On his way to her show, Kurt accidentally kills someone he didn’t mean to, Spree is shut down, and Kurt finally gets what he achieved – Internet fame. His murders have been discovered by the public as the police learn about the “Rideshare Killer.” This is only the first half of the film – it gets wilder as the goose chase between Jessie and Kurt (and later the cops, too) are in a constant game of cat and mouse, and each scene raises the stakes in the best – or worst, depending on how you look at it – way possible. With each scene, Spree reveals another wild cast member – from YouTuber Frankie Grande (Ariana Grande’s brother) as a trashy drag queen to SNL star Kyle Mooney to David Arquette as Kurt’s junkie father. There is never a dull moment in this film, as every second is either action-packed or downright hilarious.
Spree works because it has multiple layers. It is a comedy film and a horror film at the same time, and it is both a satirization and a scathing critique of influencer culture and the extremes people will go to in their hope of becoming “famous” in any sense of the word. This perspective is a bold artistic choice, and the genre-blending helps the film immensely rather than hurting it. Part of the horror, aside from the gory deaths and blood everywhere, is Kurt’s psychological dependency on likes. He has a clear God complex, and imagines himself as the hero of his narrative – someone defending the world from various threats, fixated on a dream that would have been nixed if it wasn’t for his daring choices. He channels these negative sentiments in his murders of people he considers “threats” to his lifestyle, and finds an audience through a mix of complaints and support. While a lot of his actions are played for laughs, and he doesn’t suffer from as many consequences as he should, Kurt is a representation of all the negative parts of influencer culture, which Kotlyarenko mercilessly mocks through his combination of frightening scenes (including jumpscares), Suspiria-style technicolor lighting, and dark, self-loathing humor. The team behind this film researched influencer culture well, as there was a lot of attention to detail in terms of references in the dialogue – both to people and social media terms – and the way the “actual influencers” are portrayed is fairly realistic, which is impressive for a medium that hasn’t really found its footing in portrayals of influencers. While I dislike films with a “social media = bad” message, especially because of proven benefits, the genre-blending and research work in its favor as it mirrors, captures, and insults the world the film skewers.
This dedication on everyone’s end in turn works in favor of Kurt, as viewers will get curious about how far he’ll go to get likes. Horror fans would appreciate the increasingly scary scenes and implications, and the braver comedy fans would love his campy style and hammy delivery. This is Joe Keery’s film, and I hope it’s his big break, too. Throughout the film’s runtime, he manages to convey a character who is an absolute psychopath at face value, but in reality is a deeply troubled young man. I’m not condoning any of Kurt’s actions, but he’s trying his best to do what he loves and at the same time survive in a hostile, unforgiving world that provides an endless deluge of mockery and derision for people like him. He is, however controversial he may be, the ultimate “protagonist villain” – a humanized criminal, one with struggles many people can relate to. Much like Keery’s Stranger Things antihero Steve Harrington, Kurt is unpredictable, over-the-top, and downright pathetic at times, but he’s also a much more human figure – someone the world should have been kinder to. Keery’s performance creates a powerful emotional experience that feels realistic and unrealistic simultaneously. And that’s something to applaud. I would love to see where Keery goes next in his acting career.
Spree is one of the most challenging films of 2020 so far. It is emotionally overwhelming, with times where you don’t know what to feel. You will hate yourself for laughing at some points in this film. Kotlyarenko is clearly allergic to “wokeness” and the politically correct, which makes for a refreshing yet foul gust of air in a moment of increased pressure for propriety in art. No matter if you like or dislike it, you can tell that this film pushes boundaries – and even transcends them – to tell an effective story, which is something to appreciate despite its utter madness. It’s not a film for the faint of heart, but it’s a worthwhile watch if you can get through it.
4/5 STARS