Nerve (movie review)

 

DIRECTORS: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

STARRING: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco

GENRE: Thriller, New Adult

RATING: M

RUNNING TIME:  96 minutes

Nerve is about an online game, marketed as truth and dare without the truth. Participants sign up to be either players, or watchers. Players complete a series of dares for money, the intensity of which increases as they continue playing. Watchers sponsor players and can suggest dares. Vee (Emma Roberts) is an introverted photographer and literature lover whose best friend, Sydney (Emily Meade), competes in Nerve. After being cajoled by Sydney, and called a 'watcher', Vee decides to sign up as a player, where she is quickly teamed up with another player, Ian (Dave Franco). Nerve pushes the limits of entertainment, and there’s a dark side to the people behind it. Vee finds herself trapped in the game, and the only way out is to win.

Nerve is a surprisingly good film for something ostentatiously in the YA genre. The concept is so brilliant, and though based on a book from 2012 by Jeanne Ryan, is still remarkably relevant. While more time could have been given to the ending, it was a captivating film from the get-go, and well-paced throughout, with a deft mix of comedy, drama, and romance.

The story and concept are Nerve's biggest selling points. Throughout the movie, the characterisations were not necessarily consistent or well developed. Vee in particular goes from awkward to a confident thrill-seeker with barely a look back. Ian, as the love interest, gets very little character backstory, and his main perspective shift is based on his feelings for Vee, a girl who he’s only known a few hours due to the condensed timeframe of the movie. Also, the fracturing of the relationship between Vee and Sydney was, while dramatic, suddenly escalated and too quickly resolved.

Nerve works well to create the tension of the dares. As an audience member, you feel like one of the watchers of the game, on the edge of your seat and fearful but unable to look away. It’s almost horrifying to watch some of the dares – lying under a train as it speeds over tracks, driving a motorbike blindfolded, hanging from a crane hundreds of metres above ground – and think that there’s a possibility something like this could happen in real life. Nerve thus works on one level as a cautionary tale about things the internet, social media presence, peer-pressure, and voyeuristic culture. Aside from that, it’s just an entertaining film.

There are a few plot holes, or maybe not holes so much as things that happen they felt didn’t need plot justification.

The soundtrack, as with most films for this age group, was well chosen.

The opening scene is very clever, though after a minute or two I worried the entire film was going to be shot that way. It’s not. Which is a good thing.

Nerve is a good film and it's well cast and directed. Easy to get hooked into.

 

3 ½ out of 5.

Until next time.