Pulpy technothriller has finger on the pulse
Nerve
K (out of 4) Starring Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Colson Baker, Kimiko Glenn and Juliette Lewis. Directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. 96 minutes. 14A
In the sprightly thriller Nerve, teens with eyes glued to phones turn New York’s streets into a real-world playground for a social-media game.
Sound familiar? Yes, Nerve seems to have its finger fortuitously on the pulse, with Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman again casting a timely eye on techno-terror (perhaps only Nintendo stockholders are more grateful for the Pokemon GO sensation).
Of course, the stakes in this sometimes plausible tale reach far beyond pocketing another Pidgey.
Emma Roberts stars as Vee, a glum high schooler dwelling in a bleak brick Staten Island apartment with more than Wu-Tang lyrics on her mind.
She’s terminally timid around her crush, mourning the accidental death of her big brother and worrying whether her mom (Juliette Lewis) can afford to send her to college, financially or emotionally.
After a humiliating heartbreak, Vee decides it’s time for a change. Inspired by recklessly free-spirited bud Sydney (Emily Meade), she turns to Nerve, a live-streamed game of voyeuristic truth-or-dare with escalating consequences.
The secretive game divides participants into players and watchers.
Players are issued real-world dares for cash prizes, while thousands of watchers gleefully absorb the drama from a safe distance.
With Vee’s first dare — kiss a stranger for $100 — she makes amorous acquaintances with the handsome, enigmatic Ian (Dave Franco), who confirms his own dare-taker status by scaling the diner’s tabletops postkiss to heartily serenade her.
“You know, Charles Manson was a singer,” murmurs Vee’s cynical friend Tommy (Miles Heizer), one of several barbed quips in Jessica Sharzer’s script (adapted from Jeanne Ryan’s 2012 young-adult novel).
Soon, it’s clear that Vee and Ian have been united for a reason. As the audience for their uncommonly adrenalized first date multiplies, so do the stakes; one moment, they’re innocently trying on glittery couture at Bergdorf Goodman, the next they’re motorcycling blindfolded through Manhattan at 100 km/h.
Michael Simmonds’ camera captures these gravity-thwarting stunts with nerve-rending urgency. Still, as the game grows sinister, the film grows a little silly.
In particular, a climactic showdown proves that turning faceless cyber hordes into a tangible physical threat remains a tricky task.
But like one of its daredevils hanging one-handed from skyscraper scaffolding, Nervemostly manages to maintain its precarious balance of pulpy suspense and social commentary.
By turns preposterous and prescient, Nerve has undeniably struck on something.