Directed by : Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Written by : Jessica Sharzer
Starring : Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer
Release Date : July 27, 2016
Based on the young-adult thriller novel by Jeanne Ryan; "Nerve" is a movie that's designed to reflect this modern era of technology and social media. The premise itself will determine whether this movie is for you, as it follows a predominantly young cast, doing "crazy" things for fame and fortune, via a game, while broadcasting themselves to the internet, where anonymous peers watches and determines the fate of the participating players. If you can't relate with or understand the appeal of this premise, then this film may not be for you.
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, this movie has a very energetic pace to it that will constantly grab your attention. Whether it's through it's visual tricks of blending in a computer or a phone's GUI unto the real world, the very prominent modern pop soundtrack, or the kinetic way the story keeps moving from scene to scene, from location to location. Speaking of story, there admittedly may be a feeling of knowing where it's going to go, but it's still entertaining enough to follow things all the way through to it's logical conclusion. It also helps that it was easy to get invested with how Emma Roberts' character fares with the game, as well as seeing how she deals with the charming stranger played by Dave Franco, and some teenage drama with her best friends played by Emily Meade and Miles Heizer.
The story starts off innocently fun enough, with a premise that audience members themselves might find appealing to participate in (if you're the target audience of this movie at least). Of course as it should be expected, the longer the game goes, the more dangerous it gets, and the more the thematic dark underbelly of narcissism, the carelessness of sharing everything on the internet, and anonymous cruelty, is brought to the forefront of the story. The longer the story goes, the more it also pushes the boundaries of your suspension of disbelief. The more you think about what's going on in the movie, the more you're just going to start breaking down the logic behind it.
Drenched in colorful visuals, a booming soundtrack, and a self awareness with today's social media obsessed young culture, "Nerve" is a surprisingly enjoyable film that shouldn't be taken as seriously as it kinda wants you to. Now if this movie is sounding like something that is only appealing to young adults, then might I suggest the movie "The Game" by David Fincher.
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