Happy long weekend, my horror friends, hope life is treating you well and that you are taking care of yourself. Things are pretty okay on my side of the world, here in sunny Los Angeles, although, for full transparency, I should disclose that right this moment it is not sunny but cloudy and cold with a chilly temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13.33 Celsius for those of you living outside the US), but hey, let’s quit the small talk and let’s get down to business, shall we?
Spree (2020) tells the story of a guy you and I may know in real life, you know, the one so obsessed with social media that makes things awkward for us, often complaining how the algorithm is out to get them, how their posts are not getting enough views or likes, the person blaming others for the poor performance on their streams or yt videos, often begging you to please follow, share, like, and subscribe.
In all fairness, our main dude, Kurt Kunkle, was a very young man with an arguably narrow view of the world, still living with his mother who was more likely struggling herself due to money problems—house had a For Sale by Owner sign—and relationship problems—the husband, Kurt’s dad, was out of the picture and was portrayed as a good-for-nothing junkie—also, we did not get the impression that Kurt had a college education or a technical skill that would afford him a stable and lucrative job in the immediate future. So all that, the lack of life experience, of independence, of a rock-solid home environment, of a career, all that combined with loneliness—Kurt did not appear to have a romantic partner or real friends—along with the ever growing unrealistic expectations to perform well—metrics or otherwise—online, all those things were what made Kurt break from reality and come up with #theLesson as a gift to his followers, or lack-thereof.
His delusions would culminate tragically on Friday, April 12, 2019 in sunny Los Angeles.
#theLesson was a Live online tutorial on how to “up your social media game” given by Kurt while he went about his day as a gig worker driving for Spree, one of the few rideshare app services in the city. #theLesson was streamed via LiveFly thanks to eight GoPro cameras rigged inside Kurt’s car, plus, as a special offer to his premium subscribers, he would also go Live on his socials and screen share his phone.
Okay, but what was the lesson, actually? It was a psychotic demonstration on how to go viral by committing multiple homicides in real time and on Live camera, simple as that.
Before we move forward, I would like to point out the obvious by saying that yes, Spree was an in-your-face commentary on the American society of the twenty-first century and how wrong we are as a group of people, how we have allowed our younger generations to lose touch with what matters most (family, education, progress, etc.) and see them rule their lives by things that are meaningless, truly inconsequential (numbers on an app designed by a few with the sole purpose of making money for an even fewer), and not only that, the fact that many have to face for the very first time the harsh realities of insane real estate prices and a saturated job market, no wonder why they turn to mom and dad for a place to crash, and to big tech for the extra cash.
Right. Now that that is out of the way, I would like to list all the things I enjoyed about Spree, spoilers ahead:
The found footage and screenlife style (two of my preferred horror subgenres)
The use of modern technology and apps
Topics around family dysfunction, addiction, and mental illness
Kurt’s draw my life YouTube video
Him confessing on a clip—after ten years of continually posting online—that it was all a metrics game and that he felt “like a zero”
His Starbucks cup misspelled as Curt #relatable
His greasy hair and scumbro fashion
Random San Fernando Valley and Hollywood sights
The soundtrack and film score
All the small details performed by the actor playing Kurt, that is, Joe Keery; from the odd tone and volume of his voice when trying to appear confident, to standing up awkwardly when being berated by the influencer kid, Bobby, and, of course, cannot forget his displaying uncomfortable sexual energy around women, or, wait, another one of my favorites for some reason was his twitching on the seat while discreetly scratching his genitals (don’t judge me)
The entertaining scene with Mario and Jessie as the dialogue flowed so well, including the following line delivered by Kurt: “Full disclosure, FYI, I’m totally and completely transparent” (why was that so funny to me?)
Then, when it was only Mario talking rubbish about Jessie—she got out of the car safely after standing up to Mario—and having a fit about being late to his, ahem, lovemaking date, Kurt suddenly matched his aggressive behavior and also started punching the seat like a lunatic (I thought this mirroring moment was pretty neat in a horror movie)
The gas station scene when he was being super loud talking to the stream (Bobby was the only one watching at this point) then suddenly changing to being super quiet when realizing a cop was next to him filling gas into the patrol car, mind you, he kept talking about the murders (four by now) but in a quiet voice while inconspicuously wiping the blood off the windshield and front bumper
The Black & White overhead security footage at the gas station which is, at this point in our modern lives, a quintessential staple for all true crime inspired content
The drive-through car wash scene, specifically, when the car was covered in bloodied foaming soap, when an overexcited Kurt asked Bobby what he thought of the triple murder at the junkyard from just a few minutes ago, when Bobby was condescending yet again and told him he was simply “not good at this”
Kurt being so offended by Jessie, an actual influencer, for not following ‘correct’ branding methods, for not posting relatable content, and for not recording vertically
Kurt taking his social media resentment and metrics jealousy toward Jessie out on Bobby
When Bobby gets stabbed and yells at Kurt, “THIS SHIT ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE REAL!” which, in my opinion, gave gravitas to the entire movie
Kurt taking a shower to get rid of Bobby’s blood and being super happy for reaching triple digits on his stream
Kurt’s sinister google searches
His DJ dad being worried about BPA’s but not heroin
The taco truck scene for reminding me that L.A. has the best tacos in Southern California
The chase scene on the freeway for reminding me that L.A. has the worst traffic in the US
Kurt hilariously eating the asada fries as he is being chased on the freeway while driving against incoming traffic at nighttime
When he goes to Jessie’s stand up show with the intention to ‘take over’ but has a change of heart due to her ‘inspiring message’ and leaves quietly and unnoticed
Him realizing thanks to Jessie that “love is more powerful than anything… (*contemplates silently*)… it’s a good branding tool”
The tweet by Spree CEO notifying L.A. County users that services were suspended effective immediately and until further notice due to an ongoing investigation #ridesharekiller
Kurt planning his next move as he seats at the back of his GoGo ride (he crashed his car during the chase and needed a ride home)
Seeing him succeed at going viral in less than 24 hours thanks to #theLesson, going from single digits to over 58K views
On the other hand, seeing him fail at not getting killed (karma, baby)
After all is done and over with, his social presence is taken down by all the various platforms with the exception of Reddit where his followers (aka Kurties) gather to praise him
The not so secret 4chan forum where an anonymous user collects saved videos and links from 04/12/19 to make a movie about Kurt
Finally, on 06/14/19 when said user releases his tribute movie and calls it SPREE
Circling back to the actor playing Kurt, Joe Keery, I have to give him huge props for doing an absolutely excellent job at portraying a very believable streamer/YouTuber as his mannerisms in general reminded me of a handful of real life vloggers and reaction channel personalities, you can tell he seriously prepared for the role.
Anyway, I loved this movie so freaking much that it’s low-key embarrassing and don’t ever want to talk about it again. Okay, bye.
In Love and Fear,
—Marath
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