Cyber thrill-seekers run amok in ‘Nerve’
Directors of ‘Catfish’ have a new cautionary tale about the internet
The romantic teen cyber thriller “Nerve” is concerned with the ways online surveillance affects our everyday lives. Its players throw caution to the wind, and soon learn their exchange of privacy for cold, hard cash has tied them to a bloodthirsty, anonymous mob.
Jittery and colorful, “Nerve” is directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who explored the nuances of the digital world — and invented a euphemism — in the 2010 documentary “Catfish.” Though very different, “Nerve” is no less concerned with the consequences of exposing yourself on the internet.
Imagine TV’s “Mr. Robot” with the stylistic wackiness of Luc Besson’s 2014 cyber thriller “Lucy.” Audio-visually, “Nerve” feels like a great night out, with plenty of adrenaline and sinewy, heart-thumping electronic music, as the characters like, swipe, tap and livestream their way through the game.
Known as Nerve, the game is a sort of truth or dare on steroids for its millions of online participants. It demands that they decide whether they are Watchers or Players.
Reserved Staten Island teen Vee (Emma Roberts) signs up as a Player after having a blowup with her best friend Sydney (Emily Meade). Vee has decided it’s time to break out of her shell and take life one dare at a time. On her first Nerve assignment, she teams up with another player Ian (Dave Franco), and the dares they face start escalating dangerously.
Roberts and Franco are winsome enough to work as the romantic leads, but they’re eclipsed by the far more charismatic and ruthless players Sydney and Ty (Richard Colson Baker, aka rapper Machine Gun Kelly). Both project the kind of edgy desperation that the game draws out of overeager thrill seekers.
The players talk about how the app scrapes their internet cookie crumbs to tailor dares for each individual. Even so, they nonchalantly offer up their online personas in exchange for cash, as well as likes and follows, which may be prized even more highly — an attitude encountered in the world of Instagram stars and branded Snapchats.
Exposure is currency, but also a weapon — one that can be wielded against both the Players and the Watchers, who hide behind screens and agitate for the game to get more dangerous, like a crowd at the Roman Colosseum. With the shadowy group of Watchers and bots in charge of the game, the only way out is to keep on playing.
As “Nerve” builds toward a roaring Thunderdome climax, it starts to lose its grip on the viewer. But the ride itself is a neon-saturated teen dream, high on first kisses and digital romance.
Joost, Schulman and screenwriter Jessica Sharzer (who adapted the book by Jeanne Ryan) clearly know their internet culture and jargon.
But the world where Nerve exists is no dystopian future. We’re already there.