A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to be manipulated by an anonymous community of "watchers."
Set among the backdrop of social conformity and teen friendship, Nerve is a film that has the potential to elevate itself ahead of the usual crop of teen thriller/horror films that have become weighed down by genre tropes and a real lack of risk taking. But does it pay off? Is Nerve the film that raises the bar, or is it just another film happy to cruise along underneath it? The answer is both yes and no. At its best, it taps into youth culture and the need to be ‘known’ in social circles, and more importantly on social media. At its worst though it strays into age-old teen drama territory.
I became interested in Nerve after hearing it was directed by Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, now ordinarily this wouldn’t peak my interest too much (I certainly don’t care for the Paranormal Activity series) but hearing that Nerve centred around internet culture and social conformity, something that Catfish dealt with so well, it got me very interested indeed.
The story of Nerve centres around the fictional internet phenomenon of the same name. When logging into Nerve users are asked whether they are a “player” or a “watcher” and this forms the crux of the story. In life are you someone that sits back and lets life pass you by, or are you the person who grabs that metaphorical bull by the horns? Arguably the film's strongest pull is it’s two leads, Vee (Emma Roberts) has always lived in the shadow of her more popular friends and after the death of her charismatic brother, she decides to live life more and signs up as a player. She quickly meets up with the mysterious Ian (Dave Franco) and the pair form a bond driven by the tasks set by the watchers.
The idea behind the game is that the watchers pay to give tasks to the players, who in turn earn money by completing said tasks. The challenges get ever harder and the players are whittled down to one eventual champion. Here in lies my complaint with the film as a whole, a film like Nerve relies on the tasks being exciting but still grounded and believable, and I just couldn’t believe that anyone would drive at 60mph, blindfolded through the middle of New York just to gain followers and celebrity status. This coupled with a highly annoying thumping EDM soundtrack left me feeling annoyed with the film as a whole, and made it much harder for me to be invested in the story.
Nerve’s one saving grace is its overarching theme, and I couldn’t help but relate to the worries of social conformity felt by our main characters. As a 26-year-old, I am firmly engrossed in social media, I like to think of myself as remaining detached, often mocking those who so clearly act up for the attention of their followers. But then again, I’m sat here writing a blog so maybe I am part of the big picture after all. Social media is everywhere you look, and everybody knows that one person who has gained semi-celebrity status whether it be through Instagram, Twitter or Youtube. So when it came to Vee’s need to join in on the latest craze and try and “make it” as a Nerve player, I got it, I absolutely understood it. The film plays with this and ultimately asks us how far we would go to become famous?
Much to the film's credit I was kept guessing throughout, I thought I had it all sewn up within the first few scenes but in fact I couldn’t have been more wrong, and although the ending didn’t quite deliver, I certainly didn’t feel like I had wasted any time invested in the film. I’m not sure whether it's because I’ve recently been watching Black Mirror but I couldn’t help but draw similarities between the two, and I did find myself thinking that Nerve probably would’ve worked better if the EDM had been turned down, 30 minutes knocked off the running time and a subtler approach had been employed we may have been nearing a great episode of a TV show.
Nerve does so many things well, it’s lead pairing captured my attention and kept me intrigued for the duration, its themes resonated with me on a personal level and it’s knowledge and use of social media hit the nail on the head. For me, though I couldn’t shake that EDM frat boy soundtrack and the douche-bag supporting cast, it ultimately felt like the film had taken some MDMA at a house party and didn’t know how to slow down, ending in a comedown. For all it’s positives Nerve would’ve worked better as a Black Mirror episode, that being said it definitely separates itself successfully from the pack of teen thrillers that have since faded into obscurity.
