3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for dangerous and risky behavior, sexual candor, violence, profanity, drug content and fleeting nudity, all involving teens
By Derrick Bang
Numerous psychological studies —
most famously Stanley Milgram’s electro-shock obedience experiments, and Jane
Elliott’s “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” exercise — have demonstrated the malleability
of human judgment, particularly when peer pressure is involved.
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| Having heard once too often that she's timid and unwilling to do anything wild and impetuous, Vee (Emma Roberts) impulsively signs up for an Internet social media game: as a "player" who, during the course of a single evening, will be challenged by a series of increasingly dangerous "dares." |
Or, to put it more bluntly,
Common sense ... isn’t.
Novelist Jeanne Ryan tapped into
that vibe, and quite shrewdly, with her 2012 young adult novel Nerve. Co-directors Henry Joost and
Ariel Schulman have turned the book into a thoughtful, absorbing and quite
suspenseful little thriller. Jessica Sharzer’s script is spot-on, and the young
stars are well cast. The result is one of the summer’s delightful surprises: a
modest suspenser that also functions as a troubling cautionary tale.
Because, quite frankly, the
premise feels all too probable. As Ryan notes, on her web site, “I write young
adult stories that could take place
next week — but let’s hope they don’t.”
Joost and Schulman mount their
film cleverly, utilizing cutting-edge personal tech and on-screen graphics in a
way that supports the narrative without calling too much attention to itself.
Unlike so many of today’s “found footage” efforts, where the story runs a poor
second to the technique, the various gimmicks here — CGI overlays, instant
message “balloons,” visualized smart phone apps and more — feel necessary.
Best of all, the co-directors
understand pacing. With a skilled assist from editors Madeleine Gavin and Jeff
McEvoy, they briskly set up the premise, kick it into gear, ratchet up the
suspense, and build to a stylish finale, all in an economical 96 minutes. It’s
refreshing to see filmmakers who know when to get off the stage.
Shy, straight-arrow Staten Island
high school senior Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts) forever stands in the shadow of
her outgoing, aggressively slutty best friend Sydney (Emily Meade). The latter
is a school legend, always accompanied by an entourage led by Liv (Kimiko
Glenn), who functions as Sydney’s de
facto press agent.
Every waking moment of these
teens’ lives is monitored and motivated by an imprudent desire to enhance the
15 minutes of faux fame seemingly promised by Facebook, Tinder, Instagram and
their ilk. It’s a drug that requires ever-greater fixes: an addiction that Vee
has managed to resist, thanks to the support of longtime best friend Tommy
(Miles Heizer), who seems to understand the dangerous side effects of public
recklessness.
But that’s of little consolation
to Vee, who also chafes under the suffocating embrace of her mother, Nancy
(Juliette Lewis). Mom has cause: Just a few years earlier, Vee’s older brother
was killed tragically. As a result, Nancy expects her sole remaining child to
continuing living at home while attending a local college, whereas Vee — of
course — has her heart set on a distant arts school, where she could nurture
her talents as a photographer.
(Sharzer’s script is good, but
not perfect. Details regarding Vee’s brother’s death remain undisclosed, as
does any information about her absent father. These lapses aren’t crippling,
but they are noticeable.)
Sydney’s Internet-fueled “status”
has resulted from her participation in a social media phenomenon called Nerve,
in which thrill-seeking “players” accept increasingly risky dares from anonymous
“watchers.” The rewards are financial, but only for those who continue playing;
bowing out — cruelly dubbed “failing” — forfeits all earnings.
Following a particularly
humiliating day — and to Tommy’s horror — Vee impulsively signs up as a player.
Her first dare: to drive to a particular diner and kiss a total stranger. Tommy
tags along to record the action on his smart phone, to “prove” that it’s actually
taking place, thus placating the unseen watchers. Vee strolls the restaurant
aisle, mentally rejecting this guy and that one, and abruptly plants a
five-second smacker on a surprised, good-looking fellow who then introduces
himself as Ian (Dave Franco).
Problem is, Vee isn’t savvy
enough — at least, not yet — to realize that her choice probably wasn’t as
spontaneous as she might have thought. She doesn’t stop to consider the
implications behind the “coincidence” that Ian is reading one of her favorite
books: that by signing up for Nerve, she granted unseen parties access to her
entire life — which kids cheerfully record and preserve on their laptops,
tablets and smart phones — and that this initial dare, as with all others to
follow, has been custom-crafted based on her aspirations and fears.
Ryan’s book ingeniously tapped
into the subtle dangers of modern society’s absence of privacy, coupled with an
indiscreet, share-all mindset. This film exploits that paranoia with a
vengeance, indicting the very thing that makes Internet anonymity so dangerous:
the fact that people aren’t themselves while hiding behind a computer screen.
They do things — say things, demand
things — that would remain off limits in shared company.
Vee’s kiss having resulted in a
$100 windfall, she’s charmed when the watchers insist that Ian respond by
serenading her with a Roy Orbison tune. Vee and Ian “click” as a couple, with
the Internet community; subsequent dares keep them together.
While becoming more morally
ambiguous. And dangerous.
Funny how momentum and
exhilaration work. As her whirlwind evening begins, Vee firmly sets boundaries
with Ian: The moment she becomes uncomfortable, she’s out. Alas, as we’ve all
experienced, that “moment” recedes ever further, in the heat of excitement.
Roberts is ideal as this
impressionable young heroine: a credible blend of intelligence, vulnerability
and timidity. She sheds the latter trait persuasively, her eyes aglow as Vee
gets caught up in the rush of events. Roberts is believably schoolgirl-level
giddy and giggly, and petite enough, at 25, to still look like a high school
senior (as opposed to a few of her co-stars, rather long in the tooth for their
roles).
We’re on Vee’s side from the
moment we meet her, and that’s down to Roberts. She makes Vee’s progressively
rash behavior fun and larkish ... until, suddenly, it isn’t. And if the penny only
drops for Vee long after we’ve
mentally yelled for the poor girl to come to her senses, well, that’s the
nature of the drama.
Franco has a far greater
challenge: Ian must remain both charming (in Vee’s eyes) and sinister (in
ours), and that’s a tall order. Franco’s aw-shucks charisma — and his
captivating, face-splitting grin — are hard to resist, and Vee can be excused
for so quickly succumbing to this Cinderella-swept-off-her-feet adventure. But
there’s also something dark hiding behind Ian’s eyes: something that Vee
overlooks. This guy has secrets.
Meade is appropriately pouty,
manipulative and skanky as Sydney: a gal who’s bad news (and it’s difficult to
believe she hasn’t been expelled from school). But it’s not a one-note
performance; Sydney eventually confronts her own behavior, and Meade makes that
transition reasonably well.
Heizer is just right as the
earnest, adorable and ferociously computer-savvy Tommy, who has long carried a
torch for Vee. He has his own familiarity with the “dark web” regions of the
Internet, which fuel his concerns that Vee is swimming in very dangerous waters.
Colson Baker (aka rapper Machine
Gun Kelly) is flat-out scary as the menacing Ty, a veteran Nerve participant
who gets annoyed by Vee’s mounting popularity. Samira Wiley stands out as Kween,
one of Tommy’s hacker buddies; Internet pop-culture commentator Josh Ostrovsky
is a hoot in his cameo as a tattoo artist (an experience Vee survives through
gritted teeth, masking the pain by — rather adorably — rapping a Wu-Tang Clan
lyric).
Rob Simonsen’s dramatic
underscore is rarely heard, mostly buried beneath a wall-to-wall soundtrack of
pop, rap and techno hits by Basenji, Jess Kent, Sweetmates, Jerry “Swamp Dogg”
Williams, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Darke Complex and dozens of others. Like
the film’s many CGI tics and hiccups, the music is flamboyantly ubiquitous ...
but that, too, seems appropriate for this storyline.
The major problem — one that afflicts
many conspiracy-minded narratives — is that Sharzer’s script paints itself into
a corner. Third-act revelations come too quickly and easily, particularly since
we — and Vee — have, by this point, been conditioned to trust and believe
nothing and nobody. The climax feels suspiciously pat, as if an epilogue were
left on the cutting-room floor.
But that letdown is minimal. Nerve is a nifty, disturbingly relevant
and quite engaging little thriller: far more satisfying than Joost and
Schulman’s previous collaborations on the one-note sequels in the Paranormal Activity franchise.
On top of which, the filmmakers
and distributors must be delighted by serendipitous current events. Because,
before you even think about saying,
Well, that never could happen in real life ... consider the careless,
thoughtless, clueless idiots — often adults — who’ve been disrupting funerals, crashing their
cars and bicycles, and walking off cliffs (!) while playing Pokémon Go.
The bigger concern, I fear, is
that this film will inspire real-world imitators.
Wait and see.
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