THE message is obvious in Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Nerve, a film about the dangers of identity theft online.
Based on the novel of the same name by Jeanne Ryan, the film warns us to be more careful about who we befriend on the Internet and about what we share in cyberspace.
Indeed, the film has nothing good to say about the World Wide Web but that hasn’t stopped me from checking my phone every once in a while.
For all the dangerous hints involving the Internet and social media that the filmmaker duo drop throughout the film, one can’t help but be drawn into the story from the beginning.
What really keeps the audience at the edge of their seats is not the truth-or-dare games that the characters engage in but the tension that comes with it.
The story is a simple one. Vee (Emma Roberts) is tired of living in her best friend, Sydney’s (Emily Meade) shadow.
To prove her own worth, Vee gets involved in a sinister mobile game called Nerve, which is divided into two modes: Player and watcher. The players go through certain dares put up by the watchers.
The players must record themselves performing the dares and, upon each successful completion, money is deposited into their account.
The more dangerous the dare, the more money the player gets.
Simple, right? Well, here’s the catch: If a player fails or bails out of a dare, the game is forfeited and so is the money.
However, when a player decides to get the authorities involved in their game, they become a “snitch” and snitches gets snitched.
In one of her earlier dares, Vee has to kiss a stranger for five seconds at a diner and this is where she meets the good-looking Ian (Dave Franco) for the first time.
Not coincidentally, Ian is also a player. The watchers think Ian and Vee make a nice couple and from then on, the couple are sent to perform multiple dares together, including riding a motorcycle at 60mph, blindfolded, on a busy Manhattan street.
Sydney, on the other hand, is a top player in the game. So is Ty (Colson Baker a.k.a. Machine Gun Kelly), who will do anything to be at the top.
There’s good chemistry between Franco and Roberts and their affection for each other is believable.
Their characters do some crazy dares together but when things start to get out of hand, Ian is ready to give up the game in order to keep Vee safe.
Vee’s potential saviour is not Ian though but the nerdy computer whiz Tommy (Miles Heizer), who she goes to school with.
Helping Tommy are hacker friends who play ping pong in their free time.
Franco Dave appears in a buzzcut and puts on a black leather jacket with a smiley face plastered on the back, giving him that bad boy image. The younger brother of James Franco, he certainly has potential.
It’s interesting to see the younger Franco handling emotional scenes in the film, while carrying that certain bad boy image and charm.
As Vee, Emma Roberts is quite the opposite of the risk-taking Ian. She’s smart but at the same time tries too hard to prove herself to those around her. Her character may be too old to fall for that “peer pressure” thing but thankfully, Roberts’ good performance made up for all of that. Vee is also a little reserved when it comes to taking risks.
Juliette Lewis plays Nancy, Vee’s mum, who is concerned about her sudden fat bank account. As the only adult with good sense, Nancy makes a spot-on observation about the kids in Tommy’s friends list as “the dumbest smart kids”.
Perhaps the filmmakers have been tipped about the inevitable Pokemon Go craze before this, hence the multiple tongue-in-cheek comments about kids turning into technology slaves and the latest one about being zombie-like walkers.
Joost and Schulman have an impressive filmography to show from their breakout debut Catfish to two Paranormal Activity instalments.
In Nerve, they use interesting visuals and graphic design to tell their stories. There are lots of brightly-coloured visual flashes throughout the film. Director of photography Michael Simmonds gives the film a sharp and glowing outlook.
Shot mostly at night, the film is filled with slick neon-lit buildings and parking garages against a blurred backdrop of New York City.
Joost and Schulman keep the film engaging by combining tension and the dubious nature of social media interactivity.
While the two directors make a good team, it is ultimately Roberts, Franco and the rest of the narcissistic kids that call the shots.
They make you wonder whether you should be on the side of the player or watcher.
NOW SHOWING
NERVE
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Starring Dave Franco, Emma Roberts, Emily Meade, Juliette Lewis, Kimiko Glenn
Duration 96 minutes
Rating 18