If you go on Kurt Kunkle’s Instagram, you will find stories filled with “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” American happy talk. Kurt leans in, and mostly fails, at living social media meritocracy’s “fake it till you make it” ethos. Whereas social media elites show off their good fortune then go out and live their lives, poor, working-class guys like Kurt scrounge up good vibes, in every embarrassing form, to gain followers (he calls them “Kurties”)––all in hopes of climbing the social media ladder. What he finds at the top is the basis for Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Spree, an equal parts terrifying, thrilling, and satirical look at how social media can warp the mind.
A rideshare driver for Spree (Kotlyarenko’s version of Uber), Kurt Kunkle (Joe Keery) creates an evil social media campaign called #thelesson to go viral. He installs cameras in his car and livestreams...
A rideshare driver for Spree (Kotlyarenko’s version of Uber), Kurt Kunkle (Joe Keery) creates an evil social media campaign called #thelesson to go viral. He installs cameras in his car and livestreams...
- 8/14/2020
- by Joshua Encinias
- The Film Stage
Joe Keery’s character in the indie film “Spree” is strangely charismatic, but in his twisted pursuit of viral fame through social media, he’s not exactly someone you want to root for.
The “Stranger Things” actor plays Kurt, a rideshare driver who gets the idea to partake in a violent murder spree, all from the comfort of his own car, as he livestreams his crimes to the world. Director and co-writer Eugene Kotlyarenko describes the film as a satire of social media with some horror elements to it, and he called Keery’s character “misguided” and “problematic.”
“Yeah, highly misguided I think is the right word,” Keery told TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman after the January premiere of the film at the Sundance Film Festival.
Also Read: 'Minari' Director Shares the 'Poetic' Meaning Behind Immigrant Tale's Title (Video)
The whole film is done from the perspective of live-streamed...
The “Stranger Things” actor plays Kurt, a rideshare driver who gets the idea to partake in a violent murder spree, all from the comfort of his own car, as he livestreams his crimes to the world. Director and co-writer Eugene Kotlyarenko describes the film as a satire of social media with some horror elements to it, and he called Keery’s character “misguided” and “problematic.”
“Yeah, highly misguided I think is the right word,” Keery told TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman after the January premiere of the film at the Sundance Film Festival.
Also Read: 'Minari' Director Shares the 'Poetic' Meaning Behind Immigrant Tale's Title (Video)
The whole film is done from the perspective of live-streamed...
- 8/13/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
The world of social-media influencers vying for clicks, eyeballs, retweets, and viral fandom is a sick one, and that’s never been more apparent than during the pandemic. People are stuck inside, and anyone with even a modicum of celebrity is desperate for attention, scrambling to create content with quantifiable impact despite the obvious limitations. And mostly, as we’ve seen in such horrors as that “Imagine” video, they stuck at it. Director Eugene Kotlyarenko’s “Spree,” co-written with Gene McHugh, therefore couldn’t arrive at a better time, centering on “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery as a Gen-z wannabe influencer whose thirst for internet fame turns him into a serial killer who live-streams his murders while posing as a friendly-faced rideshare driver.
This scrappy indie, strung together by GoPros, dash cams, Reddit threads, and cell-phone footage, has an utterly bananas cast that feels oh-so-la, as well as a charismatic performance by a committed,...
This scrappy indie, strung together by GoPros, dash cams, Reddit threads, and cell-phone footage, has an utterly bananas cast that feels oh-so-la, as well as a charismatic performance by a committed,...
- 8/13/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It seems like there’s an entire generation out there that just seeks to go viral. Social Media and its positive and/or negative effect on the world is not a new debate, but cinema has certainly begun to chime in on that conversation. Spree, a satire with thriller and even some comedy elements, is just the latest to attempt to do so. The flick, despite a promising concept and a decent beginning/end, quickly becomes a lost cause, much like the main character. Hitting screens both big and small later on this week, it’s an option that likely won’t be your worst potential one, but will undoubtedly not be your best one, either. Whatever promise it contains is squandered over 90 or so meandering minutes. The movie is a satirical thriller, attempting to highlight the insanity of social media and the influencer lifestyle. That influencer is Kurt Kunkle...
- 8/12/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Exclusive: AMC-owned Rlje Films is closing a North American deal near $2 million at the Sundance Film Festival for Spree, an edgy gonzo satire that stars Stranger Things‘ Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney, Mischa Barton and Josh Ovalle. Pic premiered last Friday at the Marc and several entities bid.
Keery plays a disaffected young guy who seeks quick validation by engaging in a murder spree in a rideshare car, called Spree, and chronicling it on a Facebook-live type site called #TheLesson. He’s decked out his car with cameras for a nonstop livestream full of killer entertainment. In the middle of all this madness, a stand-up comedian with her own viral agenda, Jessie Adams, crosses his path and becomes our only hope to put a stop to his misguided carnage.
Prolific indie director Eugene Kotlyarenko makes his Sundance debut with this gonzo satire of demented social media obsession.
Keery plays a disaffected young guy who seeks quick validation by engaging in a murder spree in a rideshare car, called Spree, and chronicling it on a Facebook-live type site called #TheLesson. He’s decked out his car with cameras for a nonstop livestream full of killer entertainment. In the middle of all this madness, a stand-up comedian with her own viral agenda, Jessie Adams, crosses his path and becomes our only hope to put a stop to his misguided carnage.
Prolific indie director Eugene Kotlyarenko makes his Sundance debut with this gonzo satire of demented social media obsession.
- 1/31/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
It didn’t seem like there was a large portion of the movie-going population who felt that Todd Phillips’ “Joker” was too subtle, in either its commentary on the modern era of those who are involuntarily celibate, or its homage-like appropriation of classic Martin Scorsese movies. But maybe writer-director-producer Eugene Kotlyarenko has other information, since that’s the audience most squarely served by his noisily nihilist “Spree,” about a young rideshare driver who turns vacuously murderous in the pursuit of social media celebrity. It’s a concept that could handily be described as “Tik Tok Taxi Driver” meets “The Gig Economy King of Comedy.”
Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”) is as close to a redeeming feature as the film has, in the role of the irredeemable Kurt Kunkle. Kurt, known to his very, very few followers as @kurtsworld96, grins and pops peace signs while urging viewers to hit him up during...
Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”) is as close to a redeeming feature as the film has, in the role of the irredeemable Kurt Kunkle. Kurt, known to his very, very few followers as @kurtsworld96, grins and pops peace signs while urging viewers to hit him up during...
- 1/27/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
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