Nerve (2016) Film Review

What with the rapidly expanding world of social media and online mobile applications, it's no surprise that the film industry has elected to step their foot into the ring in bringing about a film based on fictional viral sensations. After all, with the likes of YouTube pranks going array and attempts at being internet famous leading to plenty of incidents, there's no wrong way of truly transitioning that to the big screen, right? And with directing duo Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman – the duo behind the 2010 documentary Catfish and its subsequent TV series – at the helm and the story itself based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Jeanne Ryan, not to mention the viral marketing campaign that's been held and the teen-friendly castings of Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, we're bound to have a solid film that works not only as an entertaining selection of challenges, but also a piece of social commentary on how online audiences have had their perceptions altered. Or don't they have the nerve to do so? 

Set in the barely-distant future of 2020, high school senior and aspiring photographer Vee (Roberts) is at a crossroads in her life. She's received a non-conditional place at CalArts and has a big crush on one of the school's football players (Brian Marc), but is too scared to talk to him or her own mother (Juliette Lewis) about moving to a different city – even more difficult because of how she believes she's staying at home for a local university, and the fact that she refuses to let go of the loss of her eldest son which happened nearly two years prior. But when she's chastised by her best friend Sydney (Emily Meade) for how she plays everything so safe and is kinda boring, Vee takes up the challenge of playing 'Nerve': an online application in which you receive a set amount if you do a set task within a time limit and film yourself doing it. The 'Watchers' watch (obviously) and can set up the challenges, whilst the Player has to do them; otherwise they lose all the money they made. They cannot bail or snitch, and the final few who have the most viewers are taken into the final. It's with her first task that she meets Ian (Franco), and the duo becomes a popular couple – much to the chagrin of Sydney, who's a big-time Player – and succeed at more and more challenges. But as the stakes become higher, things become even tenser between friends, competitors, and Watchers. 

With a premise that feels like it could, in fact, be a reality should society become ever so slightly more deprived of human decency, the film thrives mostly when it to executing the various dares given; ranging from flashing during a public event to trying on clothes at an expensive establishment. The basic idea gets set up quite easily and in an interesting manner (who puts gifs in videos?), and the event which spurs on the film is a natural enough move to make. And with sprinklings of comedy ushered into the mix, it does make for an initially entertaining and, dare I say it, fun venture through New York, and when things do inevitably get more and more serious, it's played that way whilst still injecting the right amount of fun and intensity to the mix. Unfortunately, a third act turn leads things to turn a little pear-shaped, as the pacing practically halts in favour for a new element of the story: a more satirical viewing of this world. While it does lead to some interesting commentary on how we view the world these days – hinted at throughout with an online comments system and the secret forums that Watchers sign up for – the way the story weaves into this conspiracy ploy and hatching a plan to break the system feels like it's been attached from a separate screenplay; losing much of the fun and humour seen before for the sake of upped stakes and a generic conclusion.

In the lead role, Emma Roberts does a fine enough job at playing lead character Vee. She's likeable, awkward, and works as a stereotypically relatable character with a diverse cast of friends. Her chemistry with Dave Franco is strong, and seeing the two together on-screen can often be delightful. Franco himself gives off a great performance as his serial player character, but much like the third act does lose his footing a little as the story reaches its big conclusion. Opposing player and "Mad Max" extra Colson "Machine Gun Kelly" Baker works to an extent as a manifested attempt at having a villain for the piece; Juliette Lewis ebb and flows through the story whenever she's deemed necessary for the plot to feature her but does well; Emily Meade, unfortunately, has a rushed 'kiss and make up' following her and Vee's extended B-plot about friendship which comes across as a tad clichéd; Miles Heizer as nerdy hacker Tommy brings about some good laughs but disappears by the time the second act is thriving, whilst remaining co-stars Kimiko Glenn and Samira Wiley turn up only when really necessary. 

Directing duo Joost and Schulman have a firm understanding of the source material they're working with – after all, they're practically synonymous with the ins and outs of social media and debunking certain aspects of them – so it's no surprise that they seem to do well with what they have. The camera work can occasionally come across as a tad amateur (a few seconds of unintended blurriness near the midway mark, for example), but it doesn't affect the overall feel and approach towards the entire film – it's a minor error seemingly missed in the editing suite.

Nerve may be problematic as it reaches its third act and takes a turn for the sake of making social commentary, but what precedes it is a fun and entertaining adventure through New York which essentially brings about amateur YouTube videos in a bigger and bolder way. With a set of great performances, a nice aesthetic and mostly even pacing, the whole thing kinda works – to the extent that you can ignore the glaring error about phone batteries seemingly lasting forever. But with a little tweaking, perhaps the film could have grown to become a true talking point about the online world. 7/10.