Spree (2020 film)

Kurt (Keery) dreams of social media stardom but before he can achieve his aims he has to work for Spree, a rideshare company. He decides to combine his work with his social media aspirations and decks out his car with cameras for a nonstop live stream of entertainment that has viral potential. Jessie Adams (Zamata), a stand-up comedian with her own social media aspirations aims to put an end to Kurt's antics.[3][4]

• Joe Keery as Kurt Kuncle
• Sasheer Zamata as Jessie Adams
• David Arquette as Kris Kuncle
• Kyle Mooney as Miles Vandermille
• Mischa Barton as London
• Frankie Grande as Richard
• Joshua Ovalle as Bobby
• John DeLuca as Mario

Keery spoke positively about his experience making the film; “The director is a genius. He basically had this movie in his head and just knew every detail of it.”[5] Keery worked closely with Kotlyarenko to understand his character. As preparation the pair filmed in-character social media posts such as unboxing videos, shopping trips and vape reviews. A third collaborator brought a whiteboard and suggested creating a “Draw My Life” video. Keery created comical and strange drawings to explore the personal history of his character. This was then complimented with a narration and typical speech patterns of the character. The video allowed department heads to understand the protagonist of the film and also the satirical nature of the film.[6]

As research the cast also spent hours watching content from influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. They looked at both Logan Paul and Ice Poseidon.[7]

The film was positively reviewed by John DeFore writing for The Hollywood Reporter. DeFore praised Keery's performance, “Stranger Things' sneakily charming Joe Keery gets the spotlight here, balancing the character's contradictory aspects (dork, fumbling people pleaser, psychopath) with ease.” DeFore concluded that it is “a fine example of a mini-genre we've seen before and will surely see more of soon. ('Gramsploitation? Twitsploitation?) To the extent that it works, much credit goes to Keery, for finding the real human need inside this twentysomething cipher. Critical points about social-media addiction are made explicit.”[8] Similarly, Dan Jackson of Thrillist, heaped praise on Keery's performance, “One of the best parts of Keery's performance is the way he plays the strange combination of naive earnestness and calculated cynicism that drives a person like Kurt to act in such a desperate manner, begging for followers and turning every awkward interaction into an opportunity to hawk his cringe-inducing brand...But, like the best influencers, Keery makes it impossible to look away.”[9]

• Spree on IMDb