With technology’s grasp on society only growing by the days, its no shock to see that represented in films these days. Last year’s Unfriended for example was essentially an 80 minute Skype call jazzed up as a horror movie, and became a true sleeper hit at the box office.
Continuing this trend is Nerve, a high-concept teen thriller that paints a fairly realistic world in which a game called Nerve has swept the nation. In this game, people either play or watch, with players participating in a sequence of dares until they bail. The film follows a shy teen Venus, who plays the game in order to prove her nerve (pun intended). Soon however, she finds out that the game might not be as simple as advertised.
From the fairly silly trailers, one would expect Nerve to be a complete shlock fest for phone-obsessed teens, and it pretty much is. Despite showing promise of being something slightly more capable, the film descends into a fairly by-the-book thriller.
That’s not to say there is no fun to be had here. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (most known for crafting the kind of documentary Catfish), give a capable effort here. There is a pervasive, yet fun sense of style throughout, with toe-tapping hits often matched with sharp neon colors. It's a film made for millennials by millennials, with the duo having a clear pulse on today’s society and how people are.
Performance-wise, the cast is fairly decent. Emma Roberts may not quite have the star power of her aunt, but has a certain twinkle on the screen. She always make for a great every man, being easy to like and root for. Dave Franco is another actor who may pale in comparison to a more famous relative, but his cool, cocksure attitude always comes off on screen. The supporting cast holds their own, with the veteran presence of Juliet Lewis always being welcomed.
For the first third, Nerve does a nice job of establishing a fairly realistic world along with some well-established characters. Where the film starts to drop the ball is it quickly turns away from that sense of realism. The dares begin to escalate to the point of insanity, with a dare involving driving a motorcycle blindfold being particularly silly. Opting for cheap thrills over realism betrays the world the film so intriguingly sets-up.
Even with these lapses in realism, I was going along with Nerve until it truly drops the ball in the final third. After being cavalier in its carefree spirits in the first two thirds, Jesse Schazer’s script takes the all-too-predictable turn into something far more serious. While this could have been compelling, the finale instead is trite, emotionally-empty, and painfully heavy-handed. Not to mention, unintentionally hilarious at points considering some of less inspired performances.
Nerve, ironically, suffers most from its failure of nerve. Rather than being an interesting take on our smartphone-obsessed culture, its opts to craft something fairly simplistic for popcorn-munching crowds. It may offer up some fun moments along the way, but not enough to mask its missed potential.
Rating: 5/10
