Review of Nerve (2016) by Spangle — 25 Nov 2016

This piece of teen bubblegum pop cinema is an infectious, hyper-paced, and oddly stirring work. The films tells the story of a safe, predictable teenage girl, Venus/Vee (Emma Roberts) who opts to find take a risk by playing the online game "Nerve". This game asks new sign-ups to either be a watcher or a player. Watchers, well, watch. Players are tasked with dares they must complete for serious cash prizes (one such dare rewards $15,000!) depending on the challenge of the dare. Often dangerous, death-defying, illegal, or simply incredibly awkward, the dares increase in difficulty along the way, putting our characters in serious harm. A comment on the culture of anonymity on the internet, Nerve is a fast-paced, fun, and certainly important film that reaches the target demographic incredibly effectively.

With all of today's top 100 pop songs as its playlist, as well as incredible usage of technology such as facetime/skype, Facebook, computers, and texting, Nerve is a film aimed at teenagers. However, it is adorned with an authenticity that makes it feel real. It is a film for millennials by millennials. As such, a lot of teenage lingo is included and will likely leave older viewers feeling old. Yet, this hyper, knowledge at your fingertips culture does have a truly positive impact on the film, as it is a very quickly paced movie. Things accelerate quickly and the film races alongside its characters with odd amounts of ease, as it never loses itself or becomes too quick. Instead, its hyper speed really matches the modern society incredibly well, allowing the film to be a great parallel of the 21st century and put it in prime position to critique our world.

And critique it certainly does. Highlighting the risks behind internet anonymity, internet game trends, cyber bullying, and peer pressure, Nerve is certainly a film of the moment. In particular, the climax of the film really highlights all of these dangers and shows the lengths our society has been driven to, as a result of being able to hide behind a screen. Though the ending may be in your face, it certainly has to be, given its target. As us millennials are likely staring at our phones, Nerve knows it needs to spell out its message and it certainly does this. However, this force feeding does not undermine the grace or execution of this message. Rather, it only furthers its urgency. In many ways, the climax parallels something out of Ancient Rome or lines Maximus would and did scream out at the crowd in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Should our society not stop hiding behind a screen, which allows us to commit atrocities, there is certainly a chance we end up like Rome and Nerve recognizes this threat. If the person on the other side of the computer stops being seen as a human by the user, our society is doomed and Nerve is an urgent call to wake up before it is too late.

This said, Nerve is hardly all message. Rather, it is still an energetic film without its message and could be categorized as a teen romance to some. The definition of teenage romance with 25-year old Emma Roberts starring as Vee who meets another "player", 31-year old Dave Franco who plays the risky daredevil Ian/Sam. In all seriousness, both Roberts and Franco turn in very good performances with terrific chemistry. Though relying upon teenage movie cliches, the duo are really well fleshed out and their characters' chemistry is very good. While some may say that Vee certainly turned on a dime from the beginning to the risk-taker she was at the end, it does feel plausible to me, given Ian/Sam's personality. A risk-taker who Vee was immediately captivated by, she essentially felt the need to play catch-up and fed off of his energy, rather than making a change in her own personality. Rather than changing, she was merely emulating the actions of the man she fell for. That said, these characters are hardly perfect. With useless back stories and supporting characters that are really not that well fleshed out beyond cliches (the friend-zoned hacker guy friend, the slutty best friend, and the Asian friend).

Yet, Nerve makes up what it loses in characters with #aesthetic. One may claim there is too much neon in this movie. In fact, it overwhelms one shot towards the beginning. Though it often mirrors reality, Nerve it felt the need to make it almost dream-like or Nicolas Winding Refn movie-esque with every light swapped out for the neon equivalent. With glowing blues, pinks, and yellows, Nerve is one neon-filled film. And I loved it. There is no such thing as too much neon. The one could be one huge lens flare of neon that obscured the entire plot and I would have been completely satisfied. There may be a day where a film comes out with too much neon, but Nerve is not that film. Rather, it creates an oddly surreal looking world that just looks absolutely terrific. Set against the dark gray buildings of New York City, the color palette here really pops.