Nerve

NERVE

Director : Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman

Year : 2016

Genre : Thriller

Rating : ****

With the meteoric rise over the past few decades in the popularity of the Internet and particularly social networking, cinema has tried time and time again to portray the obsessive hold that the medium has on our collective cultural throat; to varying critical and commercial success. Some such as last years surprise horror hit 'Unfriended' managed to deconstruct the pathologically addictive nature of the web to squeamishly good effect while others such as 2003's mediocre cyber-thriller 'Feardotcom' or 2006's abysmal non-horror picture 'Pulse' provided little in the way of social commentary or even entertainment value.

However, if there was one movie released in the past few years that proved itself as the definitive portrait of the technological zeitgeist, it would be 2010's controversial faux-documentary 'Catfish'. Co-directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman, 'Catfish' unflinchingly depicted the underlying deception of online identities and while not a particular hit with critics, it's $3.5m box office takings (against a $30k budget) made it one of the more financially successful independent efforts of that year - so much so that it spawned the hugely popular MTV series of the same name.

So it's little coincidence that the same directors of that little gem would go on to create the most convincing, the most satirical and the most adventurous attempt to meld the virtual and real worlds together on film with 'Nerve', a hugely entertaining and thought provoking thriller that thanks to it's great cast, beautiful cinematography and a biting screenplay perfectly manages to portray the nigh-on compulsive pull that online gaming, especially mobile applications, have on us in the 21st century - that is until an overblown and frankly preposterous final act all but derails the entire thing.

Emma Roberts and Dave Franco deliver fine performances as Venus and Ian, two naive and fearless twenty-somethings who quickly get caught up in the addictive and potentially dangerous grasp of 'Nerve', an online mobile app which sees people both young and old taking part in ludicrous and, sometimes, even lethal dares for substantial cash prizes. Competitors (called players) attempt to claim the highest position on the virtual scoreboard by taking on the craziest dares while viewers (called watchers), who suggest what challenges the players should do, watch the unfolding action from the safety of their phone screens. At first Venus is reluctant to part in the game but after accepting and indeed completing an ultimatum and having met the dynamic and confident Ian, she embarks on an all-night quest across Manhattan in an attempt to make it to the top of the hallowed Nerve scoreboard.

With it's fluorescent palette and frenetic yet controlled direction, 'Nerve' bears a great visual resemblance to Neil Burger's supremely entertaining 2013 psycho-thriller 'Limitless' which also used state of the art CGI graphics and inventive camera movements to convey a palpable sense of chaos, unpredictability and impending catastrophe. While not as narratively proficient as Burger's sorely underrated masterpiece, 'Nerve' still utilises the whizzy zooms and flashy colour scheme of it's superior counterpart to make it's audience feel as disorientated, as energized and as utterly breathless as its two leading protagonists.

As a pair, Dave Franco and Emma Roberts have terrific chemistry together and it is all due to their spirited performances that 'Nerve' becomes such as riveting and compelling watch. Thanks to the accomplished screenplay by 'American Horror Story' and 'The L Word' scribe Jessica Sharza, both Venus and Ian's characters are very well fleshed out and provide us with plenty of reason to root for them. Roberts (who was so good in Wes Craven's 2011 slasher swan-song 'Scre4m') is particularly great here as the quiet and timid Venus who quickly turns into a bold and intrepid daredevil while the budding romance that begins to blossom between the two is both sweet and very funny.

For 95% of it's running time, 'Nerve' is a thrilling, exciting and visually astounding film that may overstretch common sense or logic at times but through it's brilliant direction and intelligent script still managed to retain a certain veneer of believability. However in it's final 10 minutes, the movie suddenly shifts gear both tonally and aesthetically and morphs quite unexpectedly into a ridiculous hybrid of 'The Purge : Anarchy' and the brilliantly brutal Japanese horror/thriller 'Battle Royale' and in doing so, all but destroys the impact of the entire picture. Not only does this finale seem completely out of rhythm with the 90 or so minutes that preceded it but leaves such a bad impression that it almost ruins the effect of the movie as a whole. It is odd for a film that so desperately tried to regain a veil of reality would then degenerate into one of the most absurd and overblown final acts seen in any film released this year. This is a real shame because up until that point, 'Nerve' was very close to making it's way into my top 10 films of 2016. However, I ultimately left the cinema duly underwhelmed and more than a little bit disappointed. 

Nevertheless, despite this quite severe setback, I still thoroughly enjoyed (most of) 'Nerve' for what it was trying to say about the way that technology has infected our culture as well as it's strong roster of performances, it's fun and unique premise and incredible visual style. With the recent release of Niantic's nostalgia-laden smash Pokemon Go as well as the continued popularity of apps such as King's bright and colourful Candy Crush or Rovio's destructive yet addictive Angry Birds. mobile gaming is just as popular as it has ever been and while the titular game itself may not actually exist, 'Nerve' expertly shows us that no matter who we are or where we come from, the quest to claim the highest score is always going to play a significant part in our modern lives - whether it be through catching that elusive Bulbasaur or doing something potentially stupid or even dangerous for that one extra ego-stroking Youtube hit, retweet or Facebook like.