Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Industrious high school senior Vee Delmonico has had it with living life on the sidelines. When pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve, Vee decides to sign up for just one dare in what seems like harmless fun. But as she finds herself caught up in the thrill of the adrenaline-fueled competition partnered with a mysterious stranger, the game begins to take a sinister turn with increasingly dangerous acts, leading her into a high stakes finale that will determine her entire future.
Nerve is a visually striking film that uses its neon-drenched New York City aesthetic and kinetic camera work to genuinely impressive effect — the cinematography is a clear standout, capturing the social-media surveillance age with real style. The acting is competent, with Emma Roberts and Dave Franco showing solid chemistry. However, the plot is fairly thin and derivative of 'most dangerous game' thriller tropes, relying on increasingly implausible escalations without much depth. The premise had novelty for its time (2016 social-media anxiety), but the execution is middle-of-the-road. The ending deflates much of the tension with a rushed, overly convenient resolution that undercuts the film's darker buildup.