Taglines: “American Pyscho” for the digital age.
Spree Movie Storyline. Kurt Kunkle is a young man who is obsessed with being a social media star and becoming viral. A child he used to babysit, Bobby, is now an internet star who frequently livestreams and has high viewer numbers making Kurt jealous. Kurt, who works as a driver for a rideshare app called Spree, fits out his car with cameras and begins a new livestream one day titled “The Lesson” where he instructs viewers on how to get famous on social media.
Kurt starts picking up passengers and poisoning bottles of water that he hands to them, killing them. Kurt spends his time killing and disposing of his passengers but doesn’t have any viewers besides Bobby who believes the killings are fake and accuses him of being boring. While driving a new passenger and trying to get him to drink the water, Kurt accepts another passenger, Jessie Adams who is a comedian with a large social media following. Kurt is awestruck by Jessie who is unimpressed by Kurt and his obsession with gaining social media followers and leaves the ride. Kurt then kills the other passenger.
Night falls and Kurt picks up and manages to kill three passengers all at once, but this fails to go viral. Kurt learns that Jessie will be performing in a comedy show that will be livestreamed to millions. Kurt goes to Bobby’s house, demanding that Bobby shares Kurt’s stream but Bobby refuses and starts livestreaming their argument, attracting a large viewing audience.
Kurt kills Bobby and takes his gun before livestreaming for Bobby’s fans who assumes the murder is fake and spends their time insulting Kurt. Kurt’s father Kris asks him for a ride to a club where he is performing, claiming that a famous DJ called uNo will be there and that she will tag Kurt in a photo.
Spree is a 2020 American black comedy horror film directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko. The gonzo-style satire follows a social media obsessed ride-hail driver played by Joe Keery. The film also stars Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney and Mischa Barton. It was executive-produced by Drake.
Spree premiered on January 24, 2020 at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival as part of the NEXT category, and was released theatrically and via video on demand in the United States on August 14, 2020, by RLJE Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Keery’s performance and the premise, but criticism for the lack of depth.
Filming occurred in February 2019 around Los Angeles, California. Keery worked closely with Kotlyarenko to understand his character, and the pair filmed in-character social media posts such as unboxing videos, shopping trips and vape reviews. As research the cast also spent hours watching content from influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Spree premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. Shortly after, distributor RLJE Films paid $2 million to acquire the rights to the film. It was released in the United States in theaters and via VOD on August 14, 2020.
Spree (2020)
Directed by: Eugene Kotlyarenko
Starring: Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamata, Mischa Barton, John DeLuca, Josh Ovalle, Lala Kent, Frankie Grande, Kyle Mooney, David Arquette, Caroline Hebert, Jessalyn Gilsig, John DeLuca
Screenplay by: Eugene Kotlyarenko, Gene McHugh
Production Design by: Carlos Laszlo
Cinematography by: Jeff Leeds Cohn
Film Editing by: Benjamin Moses Smith
Costume Design by: Natasha Newman-Thomas
Set Decoration by: Allison Littrell
Art Direction by: Eric Palmer
Music by: James Ferraro
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: RLJE Films
Release Date: January 24, 2020 (Sundance), August 14, 2020 (United States)
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