Everyone's Favorite 'Stranger Things' Star's Forgotten Horror Thriller Has Become a Sleeper Hit on Free Streaming

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Steve, Dustin (with a bloody nose), and Jonathan stand in the road next to the radio station van in Stranger Things 5

Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts.

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Would you get in an Uber with Joe Keery? Be honest — yeah, probably. He seems chill, he sings, he seems like a great guy. And that’s exactly the problem at the heart of Spree, the sharply cynical horror satire that’s quietly become a free-streaming sleeper hit years after most people missed it. Directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko, Spree casts Keery wildly against type as Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver so desperate for social media fame that he decides the fastest route to virality is… livestreamed murder.

The film uses a ScreenLife format — think Unfriended or Searching — unfolding through livestreams, apps, comments, and phone screens. You’re not just watching Kurt spiral; you’re watching him perform, refreshing view counts, begging for engagement, and slowly realizing that even murder isn’t guaranteed to go viral.

Keery is the reason it works. Best known as Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, he weaponizes awkward charm here, playing Kurt as a grinning void of entitlement, loneliness, and rage. He’s unsettling precisely because he feels familiar — the guy who overshares, tries too hard, and absolutely cannot handle being ignored.

Is 'Spree' Worth Watching?

Collider’s review of the movie stated that Spree played like a warped, social-media-era riff on American Psycho, with Joe Keery deliberately torching his wholesome image as a rideshare driver who turns murder into a clout-chasing strategy. The film was praised for Keery’s committed lead performance, its sharp supporting cast, and Eugene Kotlyarenko’s frenetic, screen-addicted style, which captured the ugliness of online culture with unnerving accuracy. However, the review argued that the movie’s message about audience complicity felt muddled and overly familiar, losing focus once it shifted attention away from Kurt. Entertaining, divisive, and stylish, Spree didn’t fully cohere despite its bold premise.

"Keery impressed me in his first major lead role, but there's something a little too vapid about Spree to take it completely seriously. I attended its very first screening at 8:30 p.m., but this is a midnight movie through and through, and I suspect it should've screened for an audience that might be a bit more in on the joke. The truth is that Spree should've embraced its demented premise and really gone full Grand Theft Auto. Instead, it tries to inject some depth to the proceedings, and as a result, it doesn't fully coalesce. I didn't know whether to give this movie a B or a C+, so like Kurt's approach to tipping, I'll choose the middle option."

Spree is streaming now on Tubi.