SPREE

US, 2020, 93 minutes, Colour.
Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamara, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney, Mischa Barton, Frankie Grande, Joshua Valle.
Directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko.

In 1963 there was a comedy movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Almost 60 years on, after watching Spree, we would think: It’s a Madder, Madder, Madder, Madder World. It’s a world where the central character tells us right from the beginning, ‘if your life is not documented, you don’t exist’.

Here we are plunged, along with the central character, Kurt (Joe Keery) into a world where the virtual world takes pre-eminence. Kurt does live in a real world (questioning the meaning of ‘live’), drives the equivalent of an Uber car, picking up passengers, but it is only a context for a virtual world. He has several cameras in his car, looks to camera all the time, speaks to camera more than to his customers, has organised his site, KurtsWorld? 96 (the year he was born) to be streamed by a friend, Bobby, whom he babysat years ago. Bobby is an entrepreneur, gives Kurt a go, but throughout the day becomes increasingly impatient with Kurt, so few people watching him, deciding to cut him off – but Kurt literally cuts him.

So, how are we reacting to Spree? Especially when we realise that Kurt is on a spree of killing his passengers?

If we are an older demographic, we are probably put off, puzzled about Kurt and his narcissistic preoccupations, his growing sociopathic behaviour, his need for acknowledgement, “not just admirers but “followers� and, until his behaviour becomes more outlandish, their lack of recognition for him.

For a younger demographic, Kurt’s world is approximating to a real world, the world of social media, the world of being preoccupied with what is on a screen rather than in reality, spending te whole day so screen-focused, a communication by tweets (sometimes hero-worship, otherwise just trolling), an assumption that this is how life is and will be into the future.

There are some dramatic moments for those who need drama (as does this reviewer), some strange cases in the fares he picks up, a self-important racist speaker, a young strutter who thinks he is God’s gift to everyone, some thrill-seekers looking for more than a trip. But, more interestingly, there is also a stand-up comedian, Jessie, who escapes from Kurt, uses him in her stand-up routine (streamed to thousands of followers), is critical of him – and, ironically, becomes his fare later in the film. It is she who confronts him – but he has no lessons to learn. This is his life.

Kurt is a celebrity in his own mind. But he craves more recognition, more followers. He is always camera-ready. But, no actual social skills. Many of the followers think he is boring and he and they want to build up to more excitement. Real life is considered trivial. The value of life depends on the number of likes.

Ironically, the title for Jessie’s act is ‘All Eyes on Me’.

So, an emotional jolter. A great deal of challenge (but the fear that many audiences may well be identifying with Kurt and his dreams and goals).

The makers enjoy more irony with the song over the final credits, endowing it with different meaning, “I will follow him…
I will follow him, follow him wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep me away. (As long as there is a signal in the mountains.)


1. The title, the tone? A social media spree? A violent spree? Murder spree?

2. The setting, the social media world, so much of the film on mobile camera, framing of characters and events? Streaming?

3. The plausibility of the plot? Kurt born in 1996? His site, 1996? From the 20th century into the 21st-century? Preoccupation with social media, with recording himself, wanting followers? The setting up of his car? The passengers? Overtones of Uber? Bobby’s program and Kurt’s inclusion? The picking up of the passengers, the injection of the water, the collapsing, death, his treatment of the passengers? The number of followers? The number of tweet comments?

4. Kurt as a character, white American male, 23, his relationship with his father and tensions, his mother leaving? His personality, wanting recognition, approval, followers? The intensity of his character, the relationship with Bobby, the past babysitting, Bobby allowing him on the stream, yet highly critical of him? Kurt pleading with him, eventually killing him?

5. Kurt, his passengers, the white racist and the conversations, Mario and his attitude towards women, Jessie, the comedian, the interactions with Mario? The thrill-seeking passengers, the woman in the front and his eventually killing her? The two with their heads above the car, the thrills, their deaths? His gross tweeting about sex, killing, the intense responses?

6. The focus on the response of the followers, their anonymity or codenames, the film and its fast listing of tweet comments, the audience unable to follow them all, their comments, criticisms, trolling, the reaction to the killings?

7. Kurt, picking up his father, their interactions, the red lights, the gun, the sequences at home, Kurt confronting his father, the dead mother, shooting his father?

8. The subplot with Jessie, Mario recognising her, her reputation, her followers, her routines? Going to visit her grandmother, the interviews and conversations? Her initial encounter with Kurt? The MC at the club, his friendship with her, travelling with her, getting her to the club, the introduction, audiences not laughing? Her performance, the criticisms of Kurt, criticisms of social media and the consequences, stamping on her phone, her saying she was giving up social media?

9. Kurt, his driving, the police, his reckless driving? Crashing the car? Getting the old man, driving him? The new car, picking up Jessie, the conversations? Taunts? The amount of tweeting and commentary?

10. His taking her the wrong way, to his house, her driving the car, crashing into the house? His taunts, her crushing him against the wall?

11. His final comments, the summary of his life? “if you’re not documented, you don’t exist�?