Nerve (I) (2016) User Reviews

fun until ending

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 30 March 2018]

Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts) is excited to be accepted to a college in California. She is concerned about leaving her mother (Juliette Lewis) behind in Staten Island after a family tragedy. Her best friend Sydney (Emily Meade) shows her an underground internet game called Nerve. Participants are divided between players and watchers. Players do dares for money and watchers pay to watch the players on their 24 hour adventures. After being embarrassed by Sydney, Vee decides to play. Her first dare is to kiss a stranger and she picks Ian (Dave Franco). They are then dared to partner up on an exciting journey into the city.

The premise, the style, and the actors make a fun, thrilling action adventure in the city. There are little problems that can be overlooked for the most part. The conclusion is key and it does certain things to wrap it all up too neatly. It takes the fun dark web idea and slaps on a Hollywood ending. Overall, it was fun while it lasted.

Surprisingly Solid movie with a good message

[allstarrunner · 7/10 · 27 July 2016]

This movie comes at the perfect time with the craze of Pokemon Go; a time when you literally see millions of people obsessed with an app - where you can find videos of hordes of people in NYC all running after a particular Pokemon.

This is essentially the premise of the movie: a new app (game) comes out that takes teens in a particular city by storm, except the consequences can be much graver.

As to not give anything away, I try to be brief:

The acting was great; the pacing was great, the color pallet and tone of the movie were all top notch.

That being said, the plot - as it developed - felt "obvious", I wasn't surprised by anything and I wasn't ever emotionally "moved." The movie knows what it is, and it does it pretty well - it's a teen thriller.

What the movie explores is far more important: the way people interact with each other when they are hidden behind a wall of anonymity. The movie has a good message.

The BOTTOM LINE: I rate movies on whether it is worth spending the $$$ to see at a theater, in my opinion this one is worth seeing at a matinée showing ($5), but probably not dolling out $12 - $15. I hope that helps.

Saw the trailer? There's no need to watch the movie then.

[MiaxPls · 5/10 · 20 September 2016]

Good idea that failed in execution. If you saw the trailer and read the reviews you might think that there's some depth hiding in the actual movie, but unfortunately, you'll be wrong to think so. The actors are the only bright spot. You'll see some well known and rising star faces who's acting was on point. The movie tries to win you with likable characters, scenes that show familiar problems to most internet users (e.g.Skype call glitching) and with a cute little morale story at the end but fails as it provides no depth to be discovered. Some scenes are super cringe worthy and left me feeling uncomfortable about my movie picking skills.

It's just one of those films you watch and forget about in a day, doesn't leave you questioning some character's decisions or the way it ended which left both me and my girlfriend disappointed. Overall 5/10.

Good mindless entertainment if you're trying to kill a few hours.

[joshfanguy · 6/10 · 14 October 2016]

I'm the guy who can appreciate Ben Affleck's Daredevil as mindless entertainment...so with that being said I'm not too hard to impress. I liked this movie's concept...it's fun and engaging. The actors did a good job with it for what it was. It's not an Oscar worthy movie by any means, but if you're bored and you're looking for something to mindlessly entertain you for a few hours this will do the trick. A little far fetched at times with regards to the antagonist(s)...but it's a good source of mindless entertainment. I've read people say it tries to actually get into serious themes...if that's the case I missed the memo cause I didn't really see any serious themes other than the availability of information over the internet...

I'd sort of go the other way with this and say it doesn't really take itself too seriously...which I think is a good thing. I do feel like the ending was a little meh and a little bit of a letdown...but I can't think of a better way to end it off the top of my head so I really shouldn't complain. This was an OK movie with a really good premise for nerds like me.

I was entertained, but....

[miinty · 6/10 · 28 December 2019]

20 mins into this, I loved it - I was all in for the ride, then, you know, that la dee da, bulls*** ending happened. I really wish they'd gone dark with that ending. Actually, every moment after Vee snitches to that cop should be changed, I feel like up until that point it was so good. I was still entertained, but the magical hacker network taking down everything... in record time, uuugh, it was so, typical. Also, Vee's brother, he played Nerve, right? That's how he died?? lol, I can't've been the only one that thought that - why mention him at all, why even have a brother, if he's not central to the story or some breakthrough?? Him being "the fun was" can't've been it, can it?

This movie was good, almost great. Strong 6/10.

Idea is not original. Just a newly Devour

[rheea_2003 · 6/10 · 13 August 2020]

If you watched Devour back in 2005 then here's the remake of it. Also, pretty much like the very well known Blue Whale game. Actors are fine but the idea is way too stretched and unreasonable. Could've been better.

An entertaining romcom with a rough edge

[johannes2000-1 · 7/10 · 27 September 2023]

This movie is advertised as "adventure, action, thriller", but that's a bit farfetched. In my opinion it's basically a romcom, albeit with a tiny rough edge. There are the usual two opposites (the beautiful well-behaving quiet girl and the seemingly bad boy, complete with crew-cut and motorbike) that predictably wind up in each others arms, after having overcome one and a half hour of hardships. The latter in the form of an online daring-game that makes them do more and more crazy and eventually even dangerous dares. Since all the assigned dares come with a ticking clock, the pace is pleasantly high, and in the final climax of the movie there is even a hint of a cynical message for all the stupid thrill-seeking internet-followers.

Emma Roberts is endearingly sweet and Dave Franco is convincing as the cool guy full of bravado but (of course) with a heart of gold. And I have a sweet spot for Miles Heizer, who has an appealing understated way of acting, he was also one of my favorite persons in "13 Reasons Why".

At last, a summer film with some originality

[bob-the-movie-man · 8/10 · 10 August 2016]

With great internet power comes great irresponsibility. This is the premise behind "Nerve", a film whose producers must have wet themselves with excitement that the Pokemon Go craze aligned so nicely with the release of their film. I was delighted that at last this summer there is a film with a modicum of originality I can enthuse about.

'Vee', short for Venus (Emma Roberts, niece of Julia Roberts) is an NYC teen living in the shadow of a family tragedy and the claustrophobic presence of her over-protective mother (Juliette Lewis, "Cape Fear"). Always timidly in the shadow of her best friend – the extrovert Sydney (Emily Meade) – Vee pooh-poohs Sydney's compulsion with the new viral internet game 'Nerve': a social media 'Truth or Dare' ("but without the truth") challenge game where you can either be a "Player" or a "Watcher". In real time, Watchers set Players with challenges they have to complete for ever-escalating financial rewards… but "Bail" or "Fail" and you lose all. And "snitches get stitches".

With their friendship at breaking point, Vee is provoked into playing the game by Sydney and teams with fellow gamer Ian (Dave Franco, younger brother of James Franco) – someone with a history that could bring Vee into great danger. However, Vee's geeky wannabe boyfriend Tommy (Miles Heizer) is on the case….

What is so impressive about this film is that the screenplay by Jessica Sharzer (based on a novel by Jeanne Ryan) is genuinely original and is delivered with style and good humor. Sure, you can draw parallels for any film with many other sources: in here there are traces of Hunger Games/Allegiance; the "Simon Says" portion of Die Hard 3; perhaps a soupçon of "Gladiator" and Schwartznegger's "Running Man" in the mix. But this is a novel approach to a teen flick, bang on the topical money in bringing in the frenetically viral nature of social media and aspects of the 'dark web', cyber security and open source programming.

The film manages to generate significant credibility about the impact that a game like this would have among a teen audience. And there is a telling message in the finale: that it is easy to be a troll without responsibility hiding behind an internet ident, but when the masks come off and the message back becomes personal then your responsibilities as an individual human can come home to roost.

The film is delivered with style and verve as well, with innovative graphics (a great title and end title design) and an 'augmented reality' overlay of the action showing Players and Watchers across the city. Many of the challenges are executed really well, with a few seat-clenchingly tense moments, particularly if you have a poor head for heights.

But with all this potential it unfortunately fails to be a 10* classic, smelling at times of 'B' movie. Which is a great shame. Emma Roberts is fine at what she does, but at times I longed for the dramatic depth of a Shailene Woodley or Chloe Grace Moretz, with the scenes with the under-used but excellent Juliette Lewis rather highlighting this differential.

The otherwise excellent script is – for me – let down by a scene of male-on-female violence which I found both distasteful and unnecessary. And a coding 'geeks shall inherit the earth' moment towards the end is a little too glib for my liking.

But overall the directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman ("Paranormal Activity 3" and "4") have done a fine job with a $20M budget.

Regular readers of my blog (bob-the-movie-man.com) may recall my use of the "BvS quotient" – the number of films that could be made from the budget of "Batman vs Superman": this one has a BvS quotient of 8% meaning you could make over 12 of these instead of the superhero dud. Yes please! Although if they had doubled the budget and rounded off some of the sharp corners, this could have been a true classic. It's still recommended for a memorable movie experience though, and probably makes it into my draft movies of the year list so far.

(For the graphical version of this review and to comment, please visit bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks).

Nerve wracking

[JB_Neck · 7/10 · 4 May 2022]

Nerve is a thriller about peer pressure in the digitalised modern world.

It's about a shy girl named Venus who wants to prove herself to her friends, especially to her best friend Sydney.

Everybody around her is playing the game Nerve on their phones, including Sydney.

In the game you get dares and gain money when completed. It starts off with embarrassing moments but quickly gets to life-threatening dares for thousands of dollars with a ton of people watching.

It's a very exhilarating experience for the viewer with a lot of tense moments. The music is also very good and fits the setting of the movie. It shows how social media affects us nowadays and the dangers of it. But the ending leaves a lot to be desired.

All in all, I can definitely recommend watching this movie.

Good concept poor film

[Clive_W · 3/10 · 2 November 2019]

If you consider the concept only, it could have been a decent film, if it were more along the lines of the manga, Dead Tube, it could have further potential. With the first act, it seemed to be okay, if you ignore the poor aspects the overall set up is good, when the moral matters are brought up the message is overly played, really pushing a message, whereas if you took the concept to Dead Tube, you could have a successful message if not so on the nose, a message played through the events and what is seen rather than the ending that is given. Much of the overall film feels as though something exciting is about to happen but is unfortunately lost to draw in viewers to the the message the film and studio try to push. It is unfortunate this is a missed opportunity, the cast were also an issue in that they were selected for attracting a younger audience. If we had unknown actors, with a darker plot we could be left with something that makes the viewer consider what they have witnessed compared to the message that is painfully spelled out.

Completely blew me away - the most fun I've had at the theatre so far this year

[darkreignn · 10/10 · 26 July 2016]

Starring the amazing and very pretty Emma Roberts, and the always charismatic Dave Franco, "Nerve" is a new thriller about a high school senior named Venus (Emma) who joins an online community, called Nerve, of adrenaline-junkies where anonymous watchers can dare players to do, well, whatever they want to see someone do.

From start to finish, this film is a non-stop white-knuckle thrill ride that is exciting, intense, romantic, and most importantly, a lot of fun. Trust me, you will have a smile on your face the entire runtime of this movie, and you'll also be on the edge of your seat. Now, I'm going to be honest, maybe my low expectations made this movie better to me than it really is, but I can't help that I had an absolute blast watching this film.

One thing that was great about this movie was that the dares were realistic, and didn't feel ridiculous. All of the things that Venus is dared to do are things that you know actually could happen in real life. The dares range from her getting a tattoo, to her having to go 60 miles per hour on a motorcycle while the driver, Ian (Dave Franco), is blindfolded, and while the dares get more and more intense as the film goes on, nothing felt overly unbelievable or too exaggerated just for the sake of putting it in the film.

And watching Venus and Ian complete their dares and gain money was so much fun to watch. Their chemistry was fantastic, and I bought their friendship throughout the film. What can I say? They made a cute on-screen couple. It was also satisfying to see Venus go from a shy and timid girl to an adrenaline junky, but hey, I'd do the same thing if someone was offering me thousands of dollars.

The world building in this film was very believable as well. The game of Nerve felt like a phenomenon, and it actually felt like something that could happen in real life. There were shots of the city that showed the different usernames of all of the different people who were logged into the game, and this was an effective way of conveying just how popular Nerve was in the films universe.

The color palette was also hypnotizing. Bright, vibrant, neon reds, blues, and purples are a feast for the eyes, and the soundtrack, which is comprised of light techno music, accompanies and mixes with the colors very well and fits the overall tone of the film.

"Nerve" is a fantastically fun and incredibly intense movie that has great chemistry between Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, great visuals to go with an awesome soundtrack, and cool action sequences in the form of the dares that the characters have to complete. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who just wants to spend an hour and a half gripping their seat with a smile on their face.

Solid teen flick

[nrnfzpjvy · 7/10 · 22 June 2022]

It's not a terrible film it may be predictable and a little out there, but for what it is, it being a movie for young drama fantasy loving teens it's pretty good. If your the previously mentioned targeted audience there's a good chance you'll like the movie. 7/10.

Starts off okay, but quickly turns into a huge mess

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 22 September 2016]

"Nerve" is a 95-minute thriller from this year that is based on a novel by Jeanne Ryan. Jessica Sharzer ("Speak", "American Horror Story") adapted the work for the screen and the directors are Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman, both known mostly for "Catfish" so far. The lead actress is Emma Roberts and the only other cast members I knew in here were her co-lead Dave Franco, brother of James, and Juliette Lewis playing the main character's mother. Most of the cast, also because of the subject, are pretty young aspiring actors that do not (yet?) have a big name. I kinda liked Emily Meade (even if the friendship story between her and the main character was one of the weakest parts of the film) and I can see her having a good future in film. But let's look a bit at the now and this movie. It is a take on Big Brother with a mix of "Hunger Games" and an ounce of David Fincher's "The Game", so if you hear all this you already know it is a mostly dark take on the age of surveillance. Here we have a young woman who gets told by her best friend that she just isn't taking enough risks to lead a fulfilling life. So she agrees to join in a virtual reality game called "Nerve", in which she gets watched constantly by thousands of people while she has to fulfill quests. These quests quickly get her to join forces with Franco's character.

And from that moment on, the two are out there together and the Watchers see them and hope for them to start a relationship. There is some situational comedy in this film and this was mostly working well. But sadly, in stark contrast to that, the real core of the film was not working for the most part. I am referring to the dramatic thriller sequences. They start off okay, but the script is quickly lost in a whirlwind of desperate attempts to become more controversial, more shocking and more relevant. The social commentary/criticism, which is what the film really is all about, also with a reference to our world, becomes complete garbage at some point and lacks realism entirely. One major problem is Roberts' main character. In one scene, she is scared to step on the motorcycle, in the next she accelerated the bike with her driver blindfolded. A rush of adrenaline cannot explain that. Same can be said about the ladder climbing scene. Let's not forget: This film takes place over the course of one evening/night and I just refuse to believe a character would change like that from one second to the next on all these contradictory occasions.

At some point, I felt the film really went for nothing than shock value and it was very empty and irrelevant as a consequence. Police won't do anything to stop the hosts of the game, even after a kid died earlier and probably more did if we are taking into account all the risky action. But a teenage boy and his pals can hack into the system and send messages that call everybody an "accessory to murder". This was maybe the most embarrassing moment, even if the idea about ending it at the very end felt very false as a whole. And why would everybody, even the "bad" guy, know about her plan, but Franco's character, the one closest to her, would not know? There were just so many scenes that did not make any sense at all in the second half of the film. Emma Roberts did not impress me at all. Sure this is a film that is much more about the story and plot than about individual performances, but I was shocked how irrelevant her character and performance felt throughout the entire film. A more gifted actress certainly could have elevated the material and her speech in front of the crowd at the very end was nothing special either, more on the cringeworthy side. Franco, a fairly mediocre actor himself, looked really strong next too her. And Juliette Lewis? Oh well. I felt almost sorry for her about what they gave her in terms of the script. The character added absolutely nothing at all, but that's not Lewis' fault, just because of the way she was written. Apart from that, I refuse to believe that the crowd would really want a certain character here to die. First of all, humans aren't that cruel. Second of all, we were led to believe they loved her immediately the moment she entered the game. Make up your mind filmmakers and please don't give me the argument of people's opinions changing fast.

Okay, enough said. I am fairly disappointed here. This was definitely a missed opportunity. The film showed some solid premise early, but it quickly turned into a huge mess. I am actually glad it was relatively short and did not get any closer to the two-hour mark. I have not read the book this is based on, so no idea who is to blame and if the base material is also really weak, but if not, then I cannot image Ryan being too happy with the way this turned out overall. I just hope they don't get the idea at some point to make a sequel here. This original was already underwhelming enough. I certainly do not recommend the watch. The longer it went, the worse it became, also with the ridiculously bad rushed-in happy ending for everybody. Stay away from this film.

It's all about now in neon,

[JohnDeSando · 27 July 2016]

If you have the nerve to see Nerve, do not apply systems of cultural and cinematic logic to a thriller that mostly is concerned with the number of hits on the titular Internet game. However if you like seeing how popular you can get on Instagram and Snapchat and the dollars to be made from hits, then this is the film for you.

If you came to this teen crime thriller cum fantasy gaming expecting a literate take on the evils of the Smart Phone, you will be disappointed. Not that the possibilities for shrewd commentary on the dangers of covert cyber surveillance are not manifold; it's just that the heroine, Venus (Emma Roberts), is too clueless about the ramifications of playing Truth or Dare on a phone with millions of watchers zeroing in on you as Player.

The thriller first becomes absurd when Ian (Dave Franco) drives his motorcycle blindfolded with Venus guiding him. More fantastical incidents/dares come forth with the last two being doozies of improbability. The dares culminate in a crescendo of righteousness as the world has a moment of seeming sanity in a film that has been anything but.

Young adult fiction has lasting possibilities (I thought Twilight would never end), but Nerve is not one of those with a senior future. It's all about now in neon and instant gratification.

The best that can be said is it has moments of authentic terror (hanging from a construction crane made me nervous, no less walking a ladder between buildings ), yet it squanders the possibilities of meaningful characterizations and themes in favor of outlandish dares, none of which should pass the first security test for cybercrime. The dares, however, are mostly scary if not realistic. Nerve should appeal to teens who like both modes.

Great editing, soundtrack and acting.

[nicolechan916 · 7/10 · 27 August 2016]

A very terrifying idea that isn't so far from reality. Nerve hits home to how people like to hide behind their anonymity online while, for example, giving hateful comments. While this concept seemed pretty dark in the trailer, it really is a young adult/teen film.

The acting cast did well with their characters, and their emotions were clearly expressed. As the protagonist, Roberts did well in displaying her character's conflicting and transitioning state of mind as the story progressed. Franco does well as the male lead, but I felt that his character was a little more superficial than Roberts'. While background information on his character is provided, it feels like something is lacking.

As well, I was pleasantly surprised to see both Kimiko Glenn, and Samira Wiley in the film. Both of them are more popularly known for their characters in Orange is the New Black, and it was nice to see them in roles outside of that. While I feel that Wiley wasn't in a completely different persona, Glenn certainly was. They both did great nonetheless.

In terms of the soundtrack, I was very into the music played. I feel like most of them belong to the Indie genre, and I have, for the past half year or so, gotten into Indie music. I especially liked it when 'Electric Love' by Børns came on. I'm hooked on that song.

Furthermore, the crew did well in the visual effects and editing of the movie. Although I did not care for the fast cuts whenever the game, 'Nerve' is introduced, the rest of the film is edited well. Also, there are quite a few montages, and they give the audience a sense danger as the dares get more and more ridiculous. The montages, along with the dark color palette, added to and helped maintain, the thrilling tone of the movie.

Overall, a pretty thrilling young adult movie, with great acting, editing, and an appreciative soundtrack.

So Daringly Relevant It Scares You Pantless!

[trevor-82944 · 7/10 · 1 August 2016]

It's a game of truth or dare, minus the truth. You have a choice to be either a watcher or a player. Over the brief period of twenty- four hours, a phone app puts teens everywhere in danger through dares that are played for cash payments. In the meantime, a fan base sends in that money to watch certain players take on requested dares, specific to information picked up from their social media profiles. It is a nationwide phenomenon that is the subject of Nerve, based on the Jeanne Ryan novel, a timely piece of summer entertainment that gives teenagers what they want simultaneously with what they need.

Thank goodness this type of mobile game doesn't exist, but thank even greater goodness that directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Paranormal Activity 3 and 4) made it feel as close to real as we could probably grasp it. The camera takes on a DSLR feel with its Steadicam effects and shifting in and out of focus, all made the more heart-pounding to watch with the intense, stylistic colors that make every image pop. The Rob Simonsen score compels with a pulsing synthesizer, adding to the imprisoning effect of the city skyline illuminated at night by the usernames of the game players. But the directing team's most creative narrative technique is the unsettling effect of putting us behind the point of view of the phone screens, as if we're the watchers communicating with the players.

Joost and Schulman similarly draw us in at the start of the movie with a wonderfully stylistic opening hook, where a teenage girl's PC fills up the entire screen as if we were the ones running the show. The teenage girl of this story is Venus Delmonico (or Vee for short), played by Emma Roberts. She always has more social media tabs open than she can keep track of, which matches her cluttered mind that is set on leaving her mother's home for college. The problem? She doesn't have money to afford the dorms.

But Vee does not consider herself a risk taker—she can't even ask a boy out on a date without her best friend volunteering to do it for her. Here is where the game "Nerve" steps into her life, offering a possibility to win hundreds upon thousands of dollars for each dare she achieves.

Her first dare: kiss a stranger. Her second dare: take him into the city. Her third dare: try on a sparkly jade dress that costs four- grand. You can figure out the pattern from here.

As the night goes on, the money is deposited into her unsuspecting mother's checking account, a romance sparks between her and the stranger she meets from the dare, and she becomes one of the top 10 worldwide players, helping her to at last feel free and respected through her rebellion. It's worth respecting the challenge Emma Roberts and her male co-lead, Dave Franco, went through to complete these dares. They work rather well together, better than most teen couples on screen, although I have to wonder, was adding a predictable love story necessary?

I would not say that the screenplay turned out one-hundred-percent bullet-proof. With a story as big as this one, half of the unnecessary subplots had either little resolution or none at all. When Vee gets a tattoo for one of her dares, she tells her newly found boyfriend about the time her brother died. It could have been a meaningful moment, except it's never mentioned again, nor did it add anything to the story. Along with all the loose-ends and time- wasters, I also have one blaring question to ask: how did the police not know that any of this was going on? With a phenomenon as big as Nerve ruling teen culture, I feel like the police would have some involvement, but they didn't. I don't know how you just miss something like that.

Nonetheless, I'd be lying if I said I did not enjoy Nerve, because it delivered exactly what it promised: on-edge terror that never stops and splendidly pays off in the end. I am sure that if you are a boy or girl also obsessed with the juvenile culture of mobile gaming, then this should just as well please you.

Entertaining but dumb

[PetarNeo · 6/10 · 6 November 2016]

The girl that everyone thinks is boring decides to take up and play the game Nerve. Movie had a new idea that was well wrapped and kept it to the end and at the same time it was entertaining, wild and sometimes even tense. Dare that will change your life or not, no it's not it will try to kill you eventually because people are stupid and want to see other people doing stupid things and even pay for it. Movie wants to live up to it's originality but it fails in projecting ideas of people and how they behave in different environments and under other people influences, but at the same time providing you with money. Emma and Dave were entertaining, enjoyable to watch and did not disappoint. On the other hand there were characters that weren't so much inside the game but they could have contributed. It is very watchable and entertaining with few twists and some tense moments. 2.5/4

Fun ride!

[vithiet · 7/10 · 18 January 2024]

I really don't understand all the horrible reviews for this movie. Its goal is obviously to be a mindless entertaining thrill ride, and to me it is succeeding. The direction fits the energetic nature of the plot, the actors are doing a great job (excluding Machine Gun Kelly who is clearly not an actor), and the writing may not be exceptional but it does the job. For sure there are some plot holes and overly cheesy elements but it usually comes with the territory for that kind of movie and this is one of the milder offenders. Personal plus: the whole soundtrack is fantastic and right up my alley!

This movie... Not a single boring second

[engwaerin · 9/10 · 16 February 2021]

It's your teenage slash hightech 21 century movie but hey, it's exciting, it's well filmed, and the actors have done a great job. It's a bit of Unfriended: dark web and a bit of something else. And the best, or worst is, that this could totally happen.

Enjoy for 96 minutes then forget it

[cerexyilmaz · 6/10 · 7 January 2018]

What I most like about this movie is, it is giving a message that I appreciate; taking some risks in your life is good, but don't go overboard like risking your life for just adrenaline or making yourself look cool.

There is another message that I like in the film; people who are calling themselfs players are acting like their so rebellious and free while they are just puppets of watchers. I think it is happening all over in our lifes, for example I think there is no one who doesn't have experince in their puberty as; drinking alcohol and hating it, but still drinking it because it is something you shouldn't as a teenager so you feel rebellious but actually you are doing this just because you want to be accepted by your friends.

It was really enjoyable 96 minutes. The film was so exciting and fun while watching. I really like the style of it, there was generally dark scenes with some neon colors, it was pleasant to look at. About sounds; I think the story was getting stronger and much enjoyable with the songs played.

The start of the movie was really good, you really get into the film from the start I think, but the ending was ordinary but I still got satisfied, (SPOILER) until I see the hand with the phone, taking video.

Bad side of this movie starts when you start to question the story and events. There were so many things you can say how and why. If you planning to watch this movie just don't take it too seriously, because it is kind of movie which you will watch, enjoy and never watch again and forget about it.

good enough for a high school movie

[qeter · 3/10 · 30 September 2016]

I guess, I was too old in age to watch this movie. It might aim at teenagers. To me, a grown-up middle aged man, the movie was boring and predictable. All boys and girls have stereotype characters. Especially boring is the fact that all characters are very conservative thinking, not much youth in them. They all go a bit wild during playing the game "Nerve". But after moral (not ethics) catches them up they fall back in place and will live ordinary boring lives. What remains after leaving the cinema, is the depressing fact that our digital world can only be thought as going mad, that internet brings out mostly the bad side of people, but very seldom the good. In these kind of movies the happy ends finish with the heroes turning off the computers or mobiles. But the kids going out of the cinemas don't.

Are you ready for your first dare?

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 16 October 2017]

Vee (Emma Roberts) and Sydney (Emily Meade) are besties. Sydney plays an on-line game called "Nerve." It is like truth or dare except there is no truth. You pay to watch and you get payed to play, taking the dares of the watchers. Sydney coaxes Vee into playing and Vee quickly becomes more popular than Sydney as competition across NYC escalates to the point of being criminal.

The characters were very good and the film has a message about the responsibility that the viewer has, although that didn't play into the film until the very end. The production is aimed at people half my age. It is much better than a bunch of the cyber BS that is out there. So if you have grown weary of watching big foot found footage films and the cinnamon challenge on U-Tube, try this out.

Guide: No F-words that I recall. No sex. Emily Meade shows her butt on a dare.

Good premise, well executed but some questions...

[Kimsy1724 · 7/10 · 16 February 2022]

I wasn't really sure whether I would like this film but it was one of the featured films on Netflix and I've watched several things with Emma Roberts in and always liked her performance. I gave it a little research on here to understand the basic film premise and decided to give it a go.

I was really pleasantly surprised by the tone of the film and I thought that it was a very relevant film in a day and age where everything is online and run by social media and similar. The terrifying notion of how people act when they are hiding behind keyboards and nameless, faceless identities is all too familiar and something I've experienced myself. When people feel that they are hidden away and therefore not culpable for something, it's scary to think what people can do behind that nameless identity. If you were watching somebody that you genuinely did not know or have any relation is to or careful, would you allow yourself to be swept up and expect them to do things that you wouldn't ask someone to do in a face-to-face setting? We have all seen how quickly people can turn ugly and I've even seen people be as callous as to troll and say disparaging things about a celebrities newborn baby so it doesn't seem a far step away that people will expect others to risk their lives for the sake of entertainment when there is no emotional attachment there.

I thought the film was set and paced very well, I liked the atmosphere created and I thought Emma Roberts gave a really good performance in this film. The film is just right to be able follow it but not to the point that it was painful to watch or that you lost interest in the momentum and it steadily increased from harmless fun to questionable humour to outright awful and I thought that that gave the film gravitas.

The only things I didn't like was the fact that text messages and posts from the "nerve" program were sometimes in different languages but I guess that was trying to just highlight the worldwide fever of playing this game. It also does raise some questionable thoughts especially that for something so heavily interacted with worldwide, the police have little or no interest in helping or seemingly researching this online phenomenon to bring it to its knees. That felt a little bit jaded in a world where you can barely breathe without somebody knowing exactly where you are and what you are doing and as lovely as the message is in the ending, I find it hard to believe that those people that were so far gone in terms of getting people to risk their lives, would all of a sudden be swayed by a random woman's ramblings about looking deep inside themselves to find their humanity.

However all in all I have to say the film was actually pretty good and I would recommend it to others to watch and it's something I'd probably revisit in a few years to watch again after I forget the storyline.

A good effort in the world it's oversaturated with films to try and take a new angle on it and to make it a relevant film based on today's keyboard warrior issue.

Vine and Pokemon Go had a baby (and the Kardashians are the Godparents

[davidsalmon · 4/10 · 26 August 2016]

I struggled staying until the end of that movie, probably because I am not within the right demographic,so I'd say, if you are shaving already, this movie is probably not for you! (But if you are not shaving yet I am not sure I would like you to see that movie) I usually enjoy college silly movies or even some high school centered movies, but this was too much for me. Only good reason to see this movie might be for a drinking game: take a shot every time they say "OMG!" This movie is surfing big time the Pokémon Go wave, it is an ode to so many things that as an adult,are bothering me: the social media addiction(Vine,FB, Instagram), it puts ego-centrism, greed, instant gratification, instant fame into the spotlight. It encourages people to break the rules for fame, it makes attention seekers, extreme thrill seekers looks cool. But at the end there is a nice little twist and a lame moralizing lesson, which tells us do not go too far, friendship and life is more important, awwww so true, soooo nice, but...too late, the movie just spent 90 min showing people that all this crap was cool, pretty much being an enabler, validating addictive, dangerous behaviors, in front of a young susceptible audience! (or an older audience wondering why the hell I am here) We all read stories of selfie takers who fell from a crane or roof or cliff because they were trying to score a cool shot for their social media profiles... The movie is rather fast paced, but it is just watching a succession of dares: steal this, be naked, get a tattoo, risk your life...it is actually not funny nor entertaining to watch this. The main actors are likable, but it is was not enough to make me forget how idiotic this movie was. I was fooled by the 7 average, but then I realized 80% of the people watching this movie were below 25, so like I said in my opening statement, this is for a younger audience (who might pause their Pokémon Go hunt or their posting on FB, VIne, Insta... for the duration of this movie, and get their nose back into their phone screen as soon as the movie is over)

Cyber world in the flesh

[harry_tk_yung · 7 September 2016]

I went into the cinema thinking that I'll be watching a cousin of "Matrix" or "Tron". Not so. Well, not a close cousin anyway but perhaps a distant one. There is a huge difference that may even argue against the kinship completely. In the genre we are familiar with, people go INTO the cyber world to face all sorts of adventure in some phantom space. In "Nerve", while things are still controlled by the computer, adventures take place OUTSIDE, in our real world, IN FLESH (and, alas, blood too). The subject matter is not so much IT technology as the social media revolution brought about by it. If you, therefore, wish to put "Nerve" into a genre pigeon hole, "The social network" is not such a bad choice.

Strictly speaking, this "computer game" called "Nerve" does not even need a computer to play. But of course, IT technology makes it practically viable. After the usual signing on and registering, you are asked to choose between two statuses (there is an ominous third, which I shall revealed later). Most people are Watches, contributing a fee to watch the other category, Players, to "dare" their challenges ("a bit like "true and dare" without the truth part" quips one character). Sydney (Emily Meade), for example, is among the top ranking Player, having accumulated over six thousand Watchers when she eggs her best friend Vee (Emma Roberts) into joining.

There is, needless to say, money involved. Funded by the Watchers' subscription, Players earn price money by successful completion of each "dare". Vee's first loot is a modest $100 for kissing a total strange randomly in public, for whom she picks Ian (Dave Franco). All these happen real time, smart phones recordings by either the Players or their friends (and often both) for all Watchers to see. The price money is deposited instantly into the Player's account.

The people who control the game are faceless, so are even the Watchers. In the story, they seem to like seeing Vee and Ian together. Joint "dares" thrown at them soon escalate to reckless proportions, with obviously correlating upgrading of the loot. The game is technically not illegal, as reflected in a cop's reaction when it is reported to him: "has an actual crime been committed"? But it is in a sufficiently shady area for the owners of the game to impose a confidentiality rule, with threats of harsh consequences if broken: "snitches get stitches". This is the aforementioned third status: Prisoner.

The plots develop around the three aforementioned characters and things are of course not as they seem. There is an important fourth Tommy (Miles Heizer), a shy IT wiz kid who is Vee's best male friend, superficially platonic.

The theme of the movie, if there is one, appears to be the significance of anonymity of the audience, the Watchers in this case. A barbarous multitude (in The Bard's words) will do anything behind the safety net of anonymity. The way to kill the game, as it is demonstrated at the conclusion of the movie, is to reveal all the Watchers' identity. It does not matter if the operators of the game are not tracked down. With all the Watchers coping out, there is no game for them to operate. All the four members of the young cast mentioned above did a respectable job. For once, critics seem to be unanimous on the good chemistry between Roberts (Julia's niece) and Franco (James's brother). The movie is solidly entertaining.