Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman present viewers with a neon adventure in their 2016 New York-based thriller “Nerve.” The 96-minute escapade is something that isn’t to be taken too seriously, even if the film itself does.
“Nerve” stars Emma Roberts as Vee, a quiet high-school senior trapped in the shadow of a family tragedy and popular best friend Syd (Emily Meade). Tired of being stuck in the shadows, Vee decides to sign up to Nerve—a social media-based version of truth or dare with big prizes, but dire consequences. After receiving her first dare, kiss a stranger for five seconds, she locks eyes on Ian (Dave Franco). Once the two share a quick smooch, they are pushed into a night of wild, yet dangerous dares courtesy of anonymous users. The dares then escalate, leading to Vee risking her life; and after a visit to the police station, it’s soon revealed the only way to escape the game is death.
Roberts gives a great performance for what “Nerve” is, a film that requires little acting ability (hence Machine Gun Kelly’s casting), but it wouldn’t have landed Roberts in the 2016/2017 awards race. Opposite Roberts, Dave Franco gives a super performance as Ian, a mysterious motorcyclist who teams up with Vee on this crazy adventure. Like with Roberts, “Nerve” doesn’t offer its cast a chance to show off their acting abilities, but with only a 96-minute run-time there wasn’t exactly any space to do so. The rest of the cast gives an okay performance, but there’s not much for the viewers to really sink their teeth into and enjoy.
Emma Roberts in a scene from “Nerve” (Lionsgate, 2016).
The film also approaches many issues we deal with in today’s society, ie., the dangers of social media and the power it has over today’s population. However, it probably won’t make viewers want to delete their social media accounts because it is unrealistic and improbable.
Despite “Nerve’s” failure to deliver on a promising premise, it doesn’t disappoint on the technical side. The pop-centered, upbeat soundtrack complements the vivid scenery, and Michael Simmonds’ cinematography is visually pleasing but doesn’t compare to his previous works such as “Halloween” (2018) and “White Girl.” If the $20 million budget had been increased, then it could’ve become a classic, but with so many plot-holes and inconsistencies, it instead falls flat and leaves viewers with multiple questions. “Nerve” also makes use of the classic ‘nerds save the day with tech’ motif, which in all honesty isn’t that hard to predict.
In conclusion, this is a unique film with a brilliant concept but instead fails to deliver its goods to viewers. Joost and Schulman should probably stick to directing films in the horror genre as this film isn’t one of their best. However, for what it is, “Nerve” is a decent film with likable leads and a strong soundtrack.
