Pathetic meets psychotic in « Spree, » a black comedy starring Joe Keery that pretends it’s an assault on social media.
Pathetic meets psychotic in “Spree,” a black comedy that pretends it’s an assault on social media. But, instead, it is probably more interested in getting likes and follows by using that culture as a platform for some gleefully transgressive midnight-movie violence and bad taste. Director Eugene Kotlyarenko’s film is a confounding combination of celebration and condemnation, notable mostly for its messy energy and for the commitment that “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery brings to his lead role as a guy who starts out as an annoying loser and goes downhill from there. If you want to find social commentary in this satiric blast of cinematic hyperactivity, you certainly can, since the evils of social-media addiction are trumpeted with lots of gusto and not much nuance. And if you want to see people mauled by junkyard dogs for laughs, that’s there, too, in essentially the same radio of gusto to nuance. Also Read: ‘Spree’ Star Joe Keery on His ‘Highly Misguided’ Character’s Pursuit of Viral Fame (Video) The movie is kind of fun if low-budget horror appeals to you. And the way the film is shot — jumping from one small screen to another and piling different social-media windows in the frame so you can read comments as you watch the action — can be a sometimes dizzying kick.
