Told in the found-footage format, Spree is a cautionary tale about the dangers of social media, the power it has over people, and how the need to be liked can push people to desperate lengths. It stars Stranger Things’ Joe Keery as Kurt, an early twenty-something who has spent years trying to grow his digital following without much success. He then gets the perfect idea, one that’s sure to get him more views – go on a murder spree live on his social channel, KurtsWorld96.
Events unfold on 12th April 2019 as Kurt kits out his Spree car (this film world’s version of Uber) with cameras to cover every angle of his ‘lessons’. These cameras are then used to live-stream his actions onto the fictional LiveFly platform. Things begin innocently enough with Kurt talking the viewer through his journey to the conception of his idea, opening with a montage of footage from Kurt’s channel over the years. These opening moments help to perfectly set-up Kurt as a character who is trying far too hard. By the time we join Kurt in his car we already know a great deal about him and it’s clear from the outset that he’s a little too highly-strung. Even in the early scenes where he’s just talking with his Spree passengers, there is something distinctly off and awkward about his character. The fact not none of his passengers pick up on this, mainly due to them all being distracted by their phones, highlights yet another peril of social media. We as a society have become so absorbed and reliant on phones and digital platforms that many pay little attention to the world outside of their screen, and Spree demonstrates just one way that this is not a safe way to live.
Joe Keery is fantastic as Kurt, it’s a very different role to his famous Stranger Things counterpart with Keery managing to make you forget all about Steve. The performance oozes desperation and instability, Keery nailing the balance of harmless loser and unhinged manic. As the film progresses, Kurt’s jovial facade slowly begins to unravel, and as his plan starts to go wrong, his behaviour becomes more and more erratic. Despite all of his rather damning actions, Keery manages to generate some sympathy for his fame-obsessed devil. A lot of this is due to Keery’s own easy charisma seeping into the role, but there are moments where you see past Kurt’s crazed plan and see him for the tragic, media addicted, victim that he is. This in no way condones his kill-spree, but does demonstrate that he’s very much a normal person in the midst of a breakdown rather than a sociopathic deviant.
After films such as Host and Death of a Vlogger, the found-footage format is finding new ways to entertain, and in Spree comes a slasher spin. This new wave of movies within the genre utilise today’s technology and platforms to tell their stories in a more cinematic manner. With Spree, gone are the handheld vomit-inducing shaky camerawork, instead the story cuts between the multiple camera feeds to offer the viewer more angles and scope, giving a clearer, fuller, picture of the world.
Given its exploration of modern themes and issues, Spree feels fresh and relevant. In spite of the violent actions undertaken by Kurt, there’s a fun undercurrent of dark humour that bubbles away, helping to break the tension when necessary. This approach makes the ideas presented easier to digest and will hopefully encourage at least some that watch it to reassess their own reliance on the handheld devices that control them.
An enjoyable slasher film for the cyber age, Spree highlights some serious and topical issues, whilst still retaining an air of playfulness.
Spree will be on Digital Download from 19th November 2020.
Spree
Summary
Spree analyses several relevant issues around our interactions with technology within the intriguing confines of the re-surging found-footage format. Joe Keery is fantastic in this Scream meets American Psycho slasher for the cyber age.
