Why So Blu?

Spree (Blu-ray Review)

Meet Kurt, from @KurtsWorld96 (Joe Keery). He dreams of sitting atop a social media empire, but for now he drives for the rideshare company Spree. Fortunately, Kurt has come up with the perfect way to go viral: #TheLesson. He’s decked out his car with cameras for a nonstop livestream full of killer entertainment – murdering his passengers. In the middle of all this madness, a stand-up comedian (Sasheer Zamata) with her own viral agenda crosses Kurt’s path and becomes the only hope to put an end to his misguided carnage. Spree is now available on Blu-ray – please read our review to see if this is a ride worth taking!

Film

Spree is the name of a ridesharing company that Kurt Kunkle (Joe Keery) AKA @KurtsWorld96 side gigs for. The latter is his social media handle and after a tumultuous upbringing all he wants to do is fit in, and figures that by having a large social presence and following, is the only way to achieve his goal.

@KurtsWolrd69 begins his day by picking up random rides via the Spree app. It’s simple and unassuming but sheds a somewhat humorous light on some of riders that quickly turn into jerks. This is where @KurtsWorld69 dispenses his form of justice. Oh, he does all while live to his followers. The rub being that in the ten years of being on social media he’s never had more than double-digit followers. He hopes that by picking up riders and videotaping their death his follower count will skyrocket and make him a viral star.

If that’s not a crazy log-line then I don’t know what is. Spree starts out very unassuming, but quickly devolves into a scathing satire and commentary on the world of social media and the influencers that capture our attention every minute of every day. Kurt’s use of cameras in his car, phone, etc., really captures the spirit of the dark side of the subject matter.

Spree is one of the better found-films of the year and I hope more people get to watch it now that it’s on Blu-ray. One could classify it as a black comedy thriller, with some elements of horror sprinkled throughout. It soars on a technical, as well. The Spree onion gets peeled back and serves as a cautionary tale for those who are immersed in the influencer and social media world. It’s all fun and games until someone goes insane and wreaks havoc for the world to see. I think Spree will become a cult classic, but it’s definitely a star making, post Stranger Things, performance for Joe Keery. Co-writer and director Eugene Kotlyarenko has done a great job on Spree and I look forward to seeing his next project come to fruition.

 

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 & 1:1 (some scenes)

Clarity/Detail: The level of detail for a film like this is pretty insane. It was filmed with various cameras like the Red Helium 8K and the GoPro Hero7 Black. I can only assume it was finished in 4K. I am also aware that there is an SDR 4K digital version of this film via your favorite digital film provider like iTunes and VUDU. With that being said, the amount of detail captured on Spree was great and I did not notice any instances of intrusive post production meddling. Contrast and sharpness levels were outstanding.

Depth: The majority of the film takes place inside a car and it has cameras going around the cabin in a 360-degree field. You will definitely feel like Kurt is driving you around town.

Black Levels: There are many scenes that take place at night and even when it gets dark in Los Angeles, you can still see what’s going on. Crush was not an issue.

Color Reproduction: Colors are lifelike in general, and really shine in Kurt’s car due to the bright neon led cabin wraparound light strip he installed.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural all around, even in the literal face of death. The blood and gore of some of the injuries come through clear, as well.

Noise/Artifacts: All things considered, the image is quite clean and free from anomalies.

 

Audio

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics: Spree is given a full DTS-HD 5.1 lossless track and it definitely rocks. There are various songs used throughout the film in addition to some intense electronic dance music. The sound field reproduces these subtle and unsubtle nuances perfectly.

Low Frequency Extension: There are several action scenes that make great use of the LFE subwoofer and it seriously bumps when those aforementioned beats come into the picture.

Surround Sound Presentation: The surround sound is glorious on this release. Being that they have cameras set up in a 360-angle, that also includes a 360-degree sound stage. It truly envelopes and gives new meaning to the term “backseat driver.”

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are gloriously clear and intelligible.

 

 

Extras

Spree has two special feature supplements included on this Blu-ray that are made up of Kurt’s social media videos and a director’s commentary. The social media clips were great and have a DIY quality to them. I really enjoyed the commentary track. I found entertaining and informative. RLJE Blu-rays are not known for their extras, but these in particular, are awesome.

•  Director Commentary
•  KurtsWorld96 Social Videos (HD)

 

Summary

I really did not know what I was getting myself into with Spree, but it was an awesome little film. Production values, script-wise, acting, etc., are all top-notch and it’s one of the better “viral found films” to come out since maybe Host earlier this year. The Blu-ray has stellar video and audio. The special features are cool, too. Spree is highly recommended!

 

The images used above within the review are not actual Blu-ray screenshots. They are for illustrative purposes only.

 

 

Spree is available on Blu-ray!

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