The power of social media is at the forefront of Nerve, the stylish and fast-paced new film from Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the directing team who behind the buzzy 2010 documentary, and now hit TV show, Catfish (as well as both Paranormal Activity 3 + 4). It’s both a look at the brilliant and convenient capabilities of social media, and a condemnation of it and the voyeuristic tendencies without any responsibility that it fuels.
The script, which was written by Jessica Sharzer based on Jeanne Ryan’s 2012 novel of the same name, has some interesting things to say about our ability to watch whatever we want without consequences when we know that no one is watching us. Only, the execution by Joost and Schulman is a mixed bag, exciting one minute, a tad bit excessive and ridiculous the next.
Vee (Emma Roberts) is a high school senior in Staten Island, eager to leave home and go to college at California Institute Of The Arts, but she’s afraid to tell her mom Nancy (Juliette Lewis) because of both financial reasons, and because Nancy can use Vee’s company at home after the death of her brother. Our introduction to Vee shows us the familiar world of high school that’s fairly typical in conventions. Vee isn’t able to convey her feelings for football star J.P (Brian Marc), unable to express herself like her free-spirited friend Sydney (Emily Meade). Then there’s Tommy (Miles Heizer), who is clearly unfortunately stuck in the good old friend zone. All the teen drama boxes are checked off.
Just when it feels like we’re about to dive deep into an extended episode of something on MTV, we are introduced to the new hot game called Nerve that is beginning to take the world by storm. It’s an online game that combines the real world and social media, creating a heightened game of “truth or dare” where users can enlist to be “players” and do outrageous things for cash prizes, or pay to be watchers and help fuel the players fire.
Sydney is the first one to make the plunge and sees instant success and fame. It goes a bit to her head, to the point where she chastises Vee to be more adventurous and take more risks. Sydney goes so far as to tell Vee’s Crush J.P. about her friend’s feelings for him, but that goes as well as you’d expect it to. This sends Vee home hurt and embarrassed, naturally turning to signing up for Nerve in order to channel her frustrations.
She begins playing doing simple enough stunts as kissing a stranger for 5 seconds. It’s through this task that she meets fellow player Ian (Dave Franco) at a diner. After this encounter the watchers like the duo so much that they create new dares to keep them together throughout the night. Slowly but surely the dares get even crazier and riskier, and soon Vee is beginning to wonder when enough is enough. Only quitting isn’t that simple. When you sign up they collect all your personal data, including your bank information. You must live stream all your completed dares, and if you fail to complete a dare, your money is taken away, and if you snitch to the police, you will be severely punished. As the dares become even more insane and dangerous, Vee realizes she’s in way too deep, but finishing the game with the growlingly mysterious Ian is the only option out.
Concerned about Vee’s descent into the rabbit hole of Nerve, Tommy signs up as a watcher and discovers some truths about Ian that have him concerned. As a skilled hacker Tommy knows the ins and outs of all things internet-related, but as an open sourced game, it’s unable to be shut down as long as people are using the game an engaging. This becomes impossible as both Vee and Ian get further along Nerve’s top player ranks, along with a shady player named Ty (Machine Gun Kelly) who continues to dominate the game as well. With no choice but to win, she’s forced to trust Ian to find away for them to both come out of this alive, while also trying to take down the game that continues to feed on the voyeuristic nature of the watchers who aren’t willing to take any of the blame for anyones actions.
There’s an undeniable youthful excitement to the first half of Nerve, that nails the feelings of todays fast-paced world of social media and gaming, well timed with the world-takeover of Pokemon Go in recent weeks. It asks thoughtful questions and when we are first introduced to the game, it’s exciting as hell. But as we dive deeper and deeper the film loses its footing and goes a bit too deep to the point of nonsensical ridiculousness and predictability. It’s a shame because both Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are solid in their roles and have undeniable chemistry together that deserve placement in a movie that doesn’t let them down.
Joost and Schulman give New York a bright neon-vibe that has a pulse of its own, and it’s all pretty to look at. But even with its commentaries on social media and our ability to watch things without consequence, there’s a hollow feeling to the closing minutes of Nerve that’s really disappointing to see, as it started out with so much promise and intrigue.
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