Nerve

 

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Vee (played by Emma Roberts) is a high school senior who never takes risks. At her friend’s behest, she signs up for an online game called “Nerve”. The idea of the game is described as truth or dare, minus the truth. She meets a guy (Dave Franco), whom she ultimately teams up with. If this is a movie that sounds interesting to you, go in blind. Don’t watch the trailer because it gives a lot of the movie away. With the trailer warning out of the way, I have to admit that I actually really liked this movie. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco have solid chemistry and work off each other really well. Emma Roberts, in particular is good in the movie. She gives a likable and relatable protagonist that I was actually rooting for. The biggest surprise to me was the performance by rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who was actually really entertaining (and clearly channelling his inner Matthew Lillard). Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman give the movie a distinct, slick look with their direction, which could only work for this movie. Some of the shots that I felt worked the best were the first-person shots helping add a layer of tension to the movie. There are some legitimately well-crafted moments of tension throughout. This movie does require a lot of suspension of disbelief, and that actually works in Nerve’s favor, the occasional plot hole be damned. I don’t think this is a movie that will age terribly well. I say this because this movie is very much of its time. It’s a perfect time capsule for this generation. Despite having a couple of issues with the leaps in logic and movie’s not likely holding up in the next few years, I thought Nerve was a decently fun matinee movie.

7 / 10