Nerve Movie Review (2016)

Exploring how social media trends can get out of hand, Nerve is an uneven movie about two teenagers during a night of completing dares for likes and cash. The first half is fun, but it takes a turn.

Trends on social media have become a thing among users. Whether it’s something that seeks to be helpful, like the ice bucket challenge for ALS awareness, or something scarier, like the eating of Tide Pods challenge, with social media it only takes seconds for other people to hear about and react to it. Which is the point, isn’t it? The attention within a community?

Nerve is a film about Vee, a high school student who always finds herself taking photos of what other people are doing, but not participating in anything herself. When her popular friend Sydney begins doing dares on a super secret social media challenge site where you earn money and followers, Vee gets frustrated enough with her circumstances to get in on the action herself. In doing so, she meets another gamer, Ian, and they take on various dares throughout the night. The larger the dares get, though, the more trouble they find themselves in.

I found this action thriller incredibly uneven. I enjoyed the first half. It’s a very stereotypical YA (young adult) movie (like Twilight or Divergent), so things like the popular girl, the shy girl, and the popular guy who the shy girl has a crush on all exist here. But it’s cute and comfortable. Then, as Vee starts doing dares, it’s even more fun to watch. What will she have to do next and how will it play out?

The colors are flashy and fun, the vibe is exciting, and it’s all very entertaining in a YA way. You like Vee, you want her to do cool things, her male best friend probably has a crush on her (they always do in YA movies), and a random cute guy is into her. Will she end up with the best friend in the end or the cute guy?

Somewhere around the middle of the movie, the vibe changes and everything gets clunky. The best friend knows Vee’s mother well enough to call her by her first name, but you don’t get any backstory. There are major (unnecessary) issues between Vee and Sydney that propel a bit of the story, but it feels cheap. Vee also eventually develops a major conscience and tries to end the game, but can’t, and it all moves into heavily convoluted territory. Ultimately, I found the second half increasingly more boring as it went on because it made less and less sense.

Starring Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, and Juliette Lewis (with bit parts as Vee’s mom), this movie reminded me of Guns Akimbo, but much more YA and extremely uneven. The premise is interesting and I really wanted to like it, but it really fell off for me in the third act. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than I did.

Runtime: 96 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Only if you love the YA genre

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 2.25/5 Stars

Available: To rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms