Sommerleigh Pollonais – Senior Writer
Spree tells the story of a social media wannabe star who comes up with a deadly plan to go viral – using his job as a ride share driver to select his victims.
Modern times calls for modern takes on serial killers and while the ideas behind this story have been done before, (the dangers of using ride share services like Uber was seen most recently in 2018’s Ride or finding crazy people on social media a la 2016 Friend Request). Mashing the two together seemed like a pretty good idea for a thriller but sadly, for me, Spree didn’t pull it off.
It’s listed as a dark comedy on IMDb but I’m still trying to figure out what the funny parts were supposed to be. The more I watched, the more mean spirited Spree seemed to get.
Lead performer Joe Keery, who most will recognise from his role as bully-turned-hero-with-an-awesome-set-of-hair Steve Harrington in Stranger Things, is actually quite good in this role. He’s perfect as the unhinged Kurt Kunkle, a young man who desperately wants more followers on his channel and who will go to any lengths to get them. Picture Ted Bundy as a millennial.
Kurt has the looks, the smile and the awkward charm that makes you believe anyone would willingly get into his car. And even as he gets more and more unhinged, he still manages to come across more like a wild puppy you would want to take home and try to rehabilitate, only to have it rip your throat out while you sleep.
Sadly the rest of the movie is a mess of unbalanced tones as it tries to be satirical but just comes across as ridiculous, depressing and demented. Visually the movie does a great job of utilising cameras that mimic the look of online videos but that’s about it. There is literally no one to root for in this movie. Even the “final girl” is kind of unlikable and the overall message of “the dangers of social media” and how people can lose touch with reality because of it has been done so much better in other films.
I recently watch a super low budget movie called Unsubscribe that did a much better job of exploring the negative aspects of tying your whole life to your online presence. It was a slow burn that managed to leave me with a sense of dread right up to the very end, without a single drop of blood being spilled. And THAT movie looked like it was shot with the same amount of money a two piece combo would cost at KFC.
Check this one out only if you’re super curious to see Joe Keery play against his likeable guy persona. Otherwise this is one Spree you can afford to miss.
Rating: 5 out of 10
For my review of Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged you can click here. And for more wild film reviews you can like and follow Redmangoreviews on Facebook here.
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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