Kurt Kunkle works as a rideshare driver on an app called Spree, he is desperate to go viral on his social media Kurt's World. So much so he comes up with a very evil plan to gain followers and have people watching him.
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Spree is one of those crazy films that highlights how obsessed we have all become with smartphone devices and social media. It ends up becoming quite scary when you think about what Kurt was doing in order to have people watching him and needing to go viral. The thing is Kurt actually seems like an ok guy to begin with, his plan to then kill people within his car obviously crosses that line rather quickly.
We are shown videos where he is putting drugs into the water bottles that will then be in his car. To give to unsuspecting passengers, although the first three people he actually does this to turn out to be rather horrible. Which then feels strange as watching I wasn't really too bothered about what had happened to them. I know absolutely crazy to even think about that. Kurt aspires to be like Bobby who has a lot of followers, and he is the only watching and tells him how boring it all is.
I think that raises an interesting point about social media and the viral videos people are obsessed with, how many of them are actually real? The doubt surrounding what Kurt was actually doing and then confirmation that other videos were fake and made out to be something that they are not.
When Jessie Adams a semi-famous comedian is in the car and Kurt finds out that she is famous, all he wants is for her to give him a shoutout on her socials. Although being in the car with an absolute creep was not going to help this situation. Although her introduction into the story changes a little bit of Kurt's plan! Never think it isn't going to get more outrageous as it really does constantly push the boundaries.
Spree actually tackles some serious issues surrounding social media, influencers and the obsession to go viral. Not that everyone wants to fully go viral, but have we all become rather obsessed with likes? I think to a certain extent anyone who uses social media wants and needs the likes for some kind of verification. But we all must remember that only the good and mainly happy moments.
Joe Keery from Stranger Things fame is engaging enough in the leading role of Kurt and I think that is a positive. He is at the very least watchable and given some interesting moments to say the least. Sasheer Zamata was impressive as Jessie Adams and managed to do well in promoting female comedians. Thinking about her set and when she mentions her Spree driver really hits home with Kurt and highlights the social media problems. Mind it goes utterly bat-shit crazy after that scene!
We have had a few films across different genres now filmed in this manner, thinking of The Searching, Unfriended and Ingrid Goes West are the ones that immediately came to mind for me. So we are getting these films in different manners and genres.
