Film

Spree

Name: Spree
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Released: 2020
Cast: Joe Keery, David Arquette, Joshua Ovalle, A.J. Del Cueto, Andy Faulkner

Serial killer

Spree is a darkly comic thriller about a rideshare driver's murderous quest for viral fame. It's a nasty, clever satire that uses found footage and social media aesthetics to explore how the internet rewards violence. For viewers who like their satire sharp-edged and their protagonists thoroughly unlikeable, it's bracingly fun. A film that knows exactly what it's doing and enjoys the discomfort.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy savage satire of influencer culture and gallows humour that turns an ugly premise into a sharp, uncomfortable joke about wanting to be seen.

Skip it if you want a straight-faced scare or a tidy thriller, since it leans into broad, sometimes cartoonish comedy and its tone can feel scattered.

What it asks of you: Roughly ninety-three minutes, it moves briskly and keeps its tone loose, so you need to accept a nasty premise and laugh at a character who is hard to like.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Nightcrawler2014

A similar descent into moral corruption driven by the seductive logic of media attention. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is mesmerizing, and the film asks uncomfortable questions about what we watch and why we watch it.

But It's deliberately bleak and offers no redemption. The pacing is slow enough to feel the weight of the protagonist's choices, which some find punishing rather than cathartic.

Incendies2010

Denis Villeneuve's examination of how violence begets violence across generations, told through a mystery that reframes everything you've seen. Technically masterful and emotionally devastating in ways that linger.

But It deals with war crimes and devastating family secrets. The runtime is nearly three hours, and the ending requires emotional stamina you might not have bargained for.

American Psycho2000

Another satire about a hollow man performing a role for society's approval. Bale's performance is iconic, and the film's critique of masculine vanity and consumer culture remains scalpel-sharp and genuinely funny.

But It contains graphic violence and sexual content. The ambiguity about what's real can feel like a cop-out if you want your satire more grounded.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Spree

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Taxi Driver1976

Both films are portraits of men whose rage and desperation for attention or meaning metastasize into violence. Spree is Taxi Driver remixed through TikTok, asking what happens when the urban isolation Travis experienced collides with infinite platforms for broadcast.

Scorsese's 1976 masterpiece about a lonely man's descent into violent fantasy and action, framed through his perspective. It invented the playbook for films about media-obsessed loners and remains the emotional core that explains why we watch stories like Spree.

But It's slower and more psychological than modern thrillers. The violence is sudden and shocking rather than stylized, and the film offers no certainty about whether Travis's final act is redemption or delusion.

Uncut Gems2019

An anxiety machine about a man desperate for a win, willing to risk everything. The Safdie brothers make desperation feel contagious, and Adam Sandler gives a career-best performance that strips away his usual defenses.

But It's deliberately exhausting—long takes, no breathing room, constant tension. The ending might feel punishing if you've invested in hoping for his escape.

Under the Silver Lake2018

A baroque conspiracy thriller about a man spiraling into obsession while trying to solve a mystery no one else cares about. It's visually inventive, darkly funny, and genuinely weird in ways that feel intentional rather than accidental.

But It's nearly two and a half hours and actively resists coherence. If you need a clean narrative resolution, this will frustrate you deeply.

Funny Games2008

Haneke's provocative home invasion film that turns the audience's complicity in violence into its actual subject. It's a film about watching films, which makes it intellectually fascinating even when uncomfortable.

But It's deliberately antagonistic toward its viewers. There's real violence and sadism on screen, and Haneke seems to want you to feel guilty for watching.

The Platform2019

A Spanish sci-fi thriller that uses a vertical prison as a metaphor for inequality and moral compromise. Surreal, grotesque, and surprisingly thought-provoking about systems that reward cruelty.

But It's grotesquely violent and depicts starvation graphically. The metaphor can feel heavy-handed, and some sequences are designed to disgust rather than entertain.

Ingrid Goes West2017

A sharp comedy-thriller about parasocial relationships and the performance of identity on Instagram. Aubrey Plaza is magnetic as a woman unraveling through obsession, and the film genuinely skewers social media culture.

But The protagonist becomes increasingly hard to root for. The tone shifts between comedy and thriller in ways that don't always land smoothly.

Bad Boy Bubby1993

An Australian cult film about a feral man experiencing the world for the first time—utterly strange, blackly comic, and genuinely unique in its depiction of innocence corrupted by reality.

But It's deliberately transgressive and deeply weird. The humor is abrasive, the violence is sudden, and the worldview is bleak in ways that can feel nihilistic rather than meaningful.

Black Mirror2011

Both are horror stories about the performative self in an attention economy. Where Spree shows violence as the logical extreme of that desperation, Nosedive shows the quieter horror of constant evaluation, but they're asking the same question: what happens when your worth becomes quantifiable and public?

A single episode (Season 3, Episode 1) that perfectly captures social media anxiety through the lens of a woman desperate to improve her rating in a society where everyone rates everyone. It's sleek, darkly comic, and stomach-turningly relevant.

But It's only an hour, so if you want something to sink your teeth into, this will feel like an appetizer. The premise is didactic—it shows you what it's saying rather than letting it breathe naturally.

Come and See1985

Spree is about a man-child performing violence to be seen. Come and See is about a child forced into a system of violence he never chose. Both films are obsessed with how visibility and power corrupt, but where Spree shows the narcissist's version, Come and See shows the victim's. They're inverse portraits of the same machinery.

Elem Klimov's harrowing Soviet-era film about a boy's initiation into the horrors of WWII. It's one of cinema's most unsparing examinations of how innocence is destroyed by systems larger than individuals, and it achieves depths of meaning that most films only gesture toward.

But It's genuinely traumatizing. The violence is not entertainment; it's meant to wound. It's nearly two hours of accumulated horror with no catharsis, and watching it feels like a moral obligation rather than a pleasure.