'Spree' Trailer: 'Stranger Things' Actor Joe Keery Is A Killer Rideshare Driver

You probably know Joe Keery best from his portrayal of popular kid-turned-mentor Steve Harrington on Netflix's Stranger Things. But his performance in Spree, a new techno-horror thriller, is an entirely new gear for the young actor. In the movie, Keery plays Kurt, a rideshare driver and total loser who's desperate for social media attention. To gain more followers, Kurt does the only thing he can think of: he starts a live-stream, and begins killing all of his customers. The first Spree trailer is here, and you can see a whole new side to Joe Keery below.

I saw this movie at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and appreciated the satirical aspects of it and the takedown of influencer culture and our collective obsession with social media. Unfortunately, though, that's sort of all this movie has to offer – it makes its point in the first few minutes and then continues to hammer home that same point again and again for the entire rest of the movie, all while incorporating some of the worst aspects of the internet: toxic entitlement, nasty commenters, and rampant misogyny, just to name a few.

Keery acquits himself pretty well, stretching his acting chops and showing that he has range beyond the mixture of nerdy and cool that he's able to pull off as Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, and Saturday Night Live veterans Sasheer Zamata and Kyle Mooney are entertaining as well. But the film has nothing interesting to say beyond "social media addiction is bad!" Here's an excerpt from my full review:

Maybe the film will be eye-opening for people who aren't frequently online, but for everyone else, watching Spree will be akin to taking a submarine ride into the worst parts of the Internet. Kurt's thirst for fame is purposefully cringeworthy, but ultimately, this is a movie about an inadequate white guy pitching a fit about a talented black woman being more famous than he is.

Here's the film's official description:

Meet Kurt from @kurtsworld96. He's about to take you on the ride of your life! Tune in and buckle up August 14th for a satirical horror film that takes down Influencer culture, social media madness and our violent society!

Spree is aiming to hit theaters (yeah, right), On Demand, and digital platforms on August 14, 2020.