Nerve

Plot synopsis:
Venus "Vee" Delmonico (Emma Roberts) is a high school senior living on Staten Island. She surfs the web and gets a Facebook notification from her crush, J.P. (Brian Marc), who tagged her in a photo that she took. Vee gets a Skype chat invitation from her friend Sydney (Emily Meade). Syd mentions a game called 'Nerve' that is about to launch for the next 24 hours. The game involves "watchers" and "players" - the players are given dares to do in exchange for money, while the watchers pay to watch everything happen. Syd has signed on to play and encourages Vee to join her, but she declines.Vee wants to go away for college but is worried about leaving her mom Nancy (Juliette Lewis) behind all by herself. It's been years since Vee's brother died, and neither of them have really gotten over it.At school, Vee takes photos for the yearbook, but most of them feature J.P. She joins her friends Tommy (Miles Heizer), Liv (Kimiko Glenn) and Wes (Marc John Jeffries) at a pep rally. Syd gives Liv her phone to record her dare. She joins her fellow cheerleaders and moons the entire school. Her dare is complete.The gang later goes out to eat. Syd keeps trying to get Vee to join Nerve since Vee never takes risks. They see J.P. sitting with his buddies. Syd decides to go over and talk to J.P. for her. She asks him if he would be interested in going out with Vee, but J.P. says she's not his type. Upset, Vee leaves and goes home. She logs onto Nerve and is told the rules before she makes a move. Dares must be recorded on the players' phones, and if they bail or fail, they lose their money. Also, nobody can snitch on Nerve, or it'll end very badly. Vee decides to become a player. Immediately, Nerve starts to obtain all of Vee's personal information.Vee calls Tommy to take her to a diner for her first dare. She must kiss a stranger for five seconds to get $100. The clock is ticking as she hesitates to pick someone. She spots a guy named Ian (Dave Franco) reading her favorite book, Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse". Vee kisses him while Tommy records. The dare is done. Vee goes over to Tommy, who is more annoyed than anything (he secretly likes Vee). When she turns around, Ian is gone. He is then spotted going all around the diner singing and putting on a grand performance as part of his dare. He goes to Vee's table, and she is dared to go to the city with him for $200. Although uncertain at first, Vee joins Ian on his motorcycle, leaving Tommy behind.Vee and Ian make it into the city and part ways. She then gets a new dare to try on a couture dress. Vee tries it on and then finds Ian in the same store trying on a suit. When they go back into their dressing rooms, they find all of their stuff is gone. The next dare for both of them is to leave the store. They remove their clothes and leave in their underwear. A bunch of watchers record them as they leave. They find the clothes from the store on Ian's motorcycle for them to keep. Their phones then buzz for the next dare. Before they head out, a player named Ty (Machine Gun Kelly) passes them and comments on their dares, and he also implies that he personally knows Ian.Tommy stays at the diner and decides to watch what Vee is doing. He gets in touch with his hacker friend Azhar (Samira Wiley) and asks for "a ticket to Aruba". Azhar thinks it's risky, but she sends him a code for access to a site called Aruba. Tommy discovers past videos of Ian playing Nerve a year earlier. He stole the motorcycle and was hanging from a crane with two other guys.Syd is going around the city with Liv and Wes to continue her dares while gaining more followers. She becomes displeased when she learns Vee is catching up to her watcher count.Vee and Ian go to a tattoo parlor. Ian draws a secret tattoo for Vee to get. It turns out to be a lighthouse as a nod to her favorite book.Nancy then notices that money is being transferred into her and Vee's joint account. She calls Tommy to ask what's going on. Tommy, unable to snitch, says Vee got a job and is having money transferred to her account.Vee and Ian then ride a carousel. Syd and her friends watch at a house party. Vee talks about joining Nerve to get Syd off her back, claiming that she always makes it look like Vee is insecure when it's really Syd that is insecure, and how she always has guys come over when her parents are away. Hurt, Syd seeks out a new dare. She encounters Ty at the party, who suggests that she team up with him. Syd declines. Ian then suggests to Vee that they go to the party.Syd gets really drunk and is then dared to walk across a ladder from one apartment to the next. It's especially terrifying for Syd because she's afraid of heights. After making it halfway, Syd slips and drops her phone. She bails out of Nerve.Vee and Ian arrive at the party. Syd takes the chance to call Vee out on what she said, leading to a huge fight between them, leaving Syd humiliated. Vee decides to complete Syd's dare and she walks across the ladder almost effortlessly. When she goes back to make up with Syd, she finds her making out with J.P. Vee then learns that Ian was dared to go to the party to get Vee and Syd to fight. Angered, Vee decides to tell the cops. Ian runs after her and pleads with her not to do that, but she doesn't listen. Vee sees a cop and tells him about Nerve, but he does nothing. Nancy then calls Vee and says all the money in their account has been taken. Now alone, Vee comes across Ty, who says he has to win the game, and he knocks her out cold.Vee wakes up in a freight container with "SNITCHES GET STITCHES" painted on the walls. A TV in the container turns on with a computer voice telling Vee that because she snitched, Nerve now controls her life, family, and future. The only way for her to escape is to win the game. She gets out of the container and is told to get on the ferry. She runs into Ian, who explains to her that like him, she is now a prisoner of the game. For Ian, it happened a year earlier when he, Ty, and a third guy named Robbie were dared to hang from a crane. Robbie slipped and fell to his death. Ian and Ty went to the cops, but Nerve ruined their lives and took away his money and his father's job. Ian says he will do a dare that places him ahead of Ty so that he and Vee can make it to the finals.Vee meets up with Tommy and Syd, where she reconciles with both of them. They get in touch with certain people as part of a plan. Meanwhile, Ian takes a dare in which he must hang from a crane with one hand for five seconds. He succeeds and advances to the final. Vee goes through the city and must pick up a package, which turns out to be a loaded gun.Vee and Ian make it to an arena in front of over a hundred watchers for the final round. Tommy and Syd meet up with Azhar to hack into Nerve's server, and Nancy meets with them there to watch the final round. The dare involves Vee and Ian having to shoot each other. Ian tells Vee to shoot him so she can win. Vee refuses. Ty appears and says he will shoot one of them. The watchers cheer him on. Vee decides to take the shot over Ian. As everyone records, she calls everyone out on wanting to watch someone die for the sake of their entertainment. Nerve then decides to put Vee's life to a vote. The majority votes YES for her to get shot. Ty fires the gun, and Vee goes down in Ian's arms. Every watcher then has their names exposed and a message notifying them that they are accessories to murder, with the option to sign out. Everyone does, allowing Azhar to crash Nerve's server and shut it down for good. Vee then reveals she was alive, having orchestrated the whole thing with Ty involved (he fired a blank).Everything goes back to normal, and Azhar makes it so that Vee and Nancy get their money back. Vee and Ian (who says his real name is Sam) decide to pursue a relationship. They share a kiss as the sun rises on a new day.

Tags: revenge, suspenseful, romantic

Review:
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.
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.
It also acts as a vehicle for up and coming talents such as Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, who both give good performances.Roberts in particular shines in every scene, and it is her character of Vee who goes through the biggest journey throughout.The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but it is an action packed film, that proves entertaining.If you can stomach the fact that it's really just people doing lots of irresponsible things then you'll enjoy the film.
This was a movie that I thought had a very cool premise, but at the same time, its trailer appeared to leave no surprises to be discovered.The Good This film's premise is definitely a fun one, and at the least, this movie was almost constantly entertaining.
The dares that these people are forced to do as well as the reasons for why people are playing this game are things I found very fun and interesting.Emma Roberts and Dave Franco both give solid performances in this film, and they each work well off of each other.
The style of this movie is also a reason as to why this film feels original, as the sleek visuals create some very cool scenes.The Bad Nerve can be very fun when it wants to be, but the problem is that it also takes itself way too seriously in many scenes.
The whole plan doesn't make much sense at all, and there are way too many unanswerable questions to just let go how convoluted it is.While I did like Roberts and Franco, I had a massive problem with Emily Meade.Whether it is the design of her character or the performance, Meade is completely unlikable and lacks any sense at all, and that would be okay if we are supposed to be against her.
Nearly every dare, every important conflict, and even the plot twist can be found within this movie's official trailer, and I highly recommend avoiding that trailer like the plague if you have any interest in seeing this movie.Conclusion Nerve has good performances from its two leads and a unique visual style, and it certainly has its fair share of entertainment.
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".
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.
That's the question at the center of the NYC-set millennial thriller 'Nerve.' The Emma Roberts-/Dave Franco-starrer is a commentary on the perils and pitfalls of our budding voyeuristic society as our lives continue to shift from the real to the virtual world.When an underground online game sprouts up among high school-aged kids that rewards those who dare to accept dares, all kinds of havoc is unleashed on the boroughs of New York.
Also, really you should shut off the movie now if you even have a remote understanding of the term open source.Kind of not worth your time anyways unless your understanding of tech is limited to that of an 80 year old North Korean farmer.However the characters and setting are pretty well done.
In other words, I saw the end.The film has a deceptively clever little setup; Vee (Roberts) a goody-goody living on Staten Island is coaxed into an online truth or dare game, only without the truth.
Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman may have been channeling Nicolas Winding Refn or Rick Famuyiwa's work in Dope (2015) but they really only succeed in reaching the sophistication of Untraceable (2008) drenched in warm neon.Our leads Vee and kinda-sorta Nerve teammate Ian (Franco) don't really feel believable within the context of the film not to mention believable as teenagers.
Ian's backstory remains murky until near the end but upon closer scrutiny post-credits his "too-cool-for-school" act feels more like a story contrivance than honest characterization.What separates Nerve from other YA screen adaptations, and truly makes this film beyond loathsome is its rather cavalier and quite frankly disgusting attitude towards privacy, technology, social media, democratization and human nature.
I much rather believe as Thomas Jefferson once did that "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." Nerve puts that idea into doubt forcing me to fall back on the tired refrain of it's just a movie.And it is just a movie; the walls of Jericho are not going to be tumbling down just because Emma Roberts made out with Dave Franco at a diner.
This is a hard movie to review because there is really no point to it.It is probably meant as a statement about the danger of the internet, the addiction and the pressure associated with social medias, and how detached we are from all the suffering in the world through our screens and phones.
Basically, we just follow a teenager (Emma Roberts) trying to figure out her future by having a crazy night-out and going out of her shell by using the application "Nerve", where "watchers" proposes challenges to "players" with an increasing difficulty as well as money if they complete each of them, until a final showdown at the end of the night between two players who have the most watchers.
The worst part is, if we take away the "Nerve" game and replace it with Dave Franco being a classic attractive bad-boy with a mysterious past who seduces Emma Roberts, it would have work pretty much exactly the same.
"Nerve" is a very disappointing movie which looks good in terms of cinematography and that is easy to watch without being too bored.
Nerve is very self-aware when it comes to these issues and uses them in an original and interesting way, influencing the film entirely.The plot is well influenced by this self-awareness, as we follow Venus or Vee (Emma Roberts) and Ian (Dave Franco) through an Internet game of truth or dare minus the truth, where you sign up to the game as a watcher or a player.
Nerve is a step in a new direction of noir films of today; taking into account the ideas and concerns about technology and uses them to entertain, shock and thrill us from start to finish..
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.
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.
With Lionsgate wrapping up their insanely successful Hunger Games franchise with Mockingjay (Part Two) last year and stepping on egg shells with the Divergent series, this is exactly the sort of film that they should pursue as they attempt to craft their new wave of cinema.Summary: Nerve takes an intriguing premise and selection of themes, two charming leads, solid direction and beautiful visuals to deliver an adrenaline-packed, original film, that may just be one of the strongest of the summer.
Emma Roberts plays V and she does an alright job in this film, she gives her best to the role it is just her character isn't that interesting.
The story of the film has some interesting dares in it as you see these two people work there way through the challenges, I can't deny that it is fast paced and interesting to watch.
Again, I never cared for her character, partly because of the writing (she makes one of the quickest 180 degree turns in personality you will ever see), but also because Roberts was just not able to sell it for me.So far this feels like a very negative review, but the truth is I didn't actually mind the film too much.
I base my reviews and recommendations on one thing and one thing only—"Was I entertained, and do I feel like the movie was a worth my time and money." With Nerve, the answer is an emphatic "Yes".Granted, the movie isn't without its plot holes, and events that defy belief.
Franco said he did not previously know how to ride one, so the directors gave him a motorcycle and a couple weeks to learn before letting him loose on the streets of New York and trusting him to drive co-star Emma Roberts around.Someone also asked whether or not there is any concern that someone will now try to create a similar game in real life.
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.
The plot is "A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of watchers." The sad thing is, this is not the story and when you will watch the movie you will get confused that, what is the synopsis and what is the actual story.
If there's anything that we should take away from the movie, it's that spending all one's time on an online game can be dangerous (never mind the fact that people can use those games to collect your personal information).So, it's not my first recommendation if you're looking for something to watch..
To start, the soundtrack was effective and enjoyable.The plot itself and lack of development did the cast a disservice.Great cinematography to boot was appreciated, NY is a top city and I have visited many times.The script itself was poorly written, no advanced vocabulary whatsoever.The twist at the climax of the movie was completely underwhelming, the opportunity to create a link with the lead actress dead brother was so obvious but over looked by the writers.
What a waste to use an actress of her caliber so sparingly.The narrative for me is social media is getting completely out of control and its better living through reality, doing so is much more likely to bring you love and meaningful connections.I had high hopes for this film after scanning reviews on here, I'm an avid movie fan.
Nerve: first of all, has a wonderful scenario.like the blue whale game was formerly populer game on earth.If we go to the movie,I've sensed disconnections in some scenes,especially in transitions.I can say that there were irregularities in some scenes at camera angles.Because the whole image is either attracted by viewers or broadcast owners, and We can watch the film through their images,I may not have fully understood the balance.
This is a very entertaining film about daring game, a genuine adrenaline rushing game,will make you jump off your seat due to its suspense, the ending was kind of meh, and dissapointing for me but the overall idea and performace were striking there were several suprising appearances of celebrities so many were involved in this movie , really recommend it for the adrenaline junkies out there ..
Emma Roberts her part perfectly but I feel that this movie should have had some more character development in regards to Dave Franco and Machine Gun Kelly's characters but over all, I enjoyed the film..
This film does a good job of making you care about the characters, even if the rules of the game are muddled and the ending feels a bit forced.
Cinematography and everything was solid but the movie feels like it is as empty and vain as the characters in the film.
Nerve(2016) Starring: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Kimiko Glenn, Juliette Lewis, Samira Wiley, Miles Heizer, Marc John Jefferies, Machine Gun Kelly, Brian 'Sene' Marc, and Ed Squires Directed By: Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost Review I was actually looking forward to seeing this film when it originally came out in the summer but I didn't get too see it because it came the same week as Star Trek and well I of course saw that first or it came out around like that time and I just had a bunch of other movies to review first.
A high school senior named Vee i finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to be manipulated by an anonymous community of "watchers." If there was any other thing that made me want to watch this film aside from Emma Robert's(who I personally think is a fine actress) and ave Franco(who is an actor who I wasn't too familiar about but I theorized he had a relation to James Franco) was just the idea of an online game where you almost threaten your life for money and with everyone watching.
The two who last the longest without giving up go to the finals.The rules of the game take much of the film to get a grasp on, but it makes sense when it needs to.Along the way, Vee meets Ian (Dave Franco)--another player.
Her friend Sydney (played by Emily Meade) is a big player of the online game Nerve, which is a dangerous "Truth or Dare" challenge where watchers pay to watch and players play to earn money.After a humiliating rejection from a guy she likes, Venus signs into Nerve as a player, where it collects everything about her (bank statements, I.D., social media pages, etc.
It at least makes a lot of the dares interesting.Both Emma Roberts and Dave Franco have good chemistry and are fun to watch.
Instead this is just a fun movie that leaves the viewer as a watcher of the two popular contestants played by Dave Franco and Emma Roberts.
Now when I write these things, I am not against people themselves enjoying a video game here, or there (although I think there are a lot better things you could be doing with your time), or saying that I am against all technology and social media at all (even though I choose not to really use any of it myself).
The new film, Nerve shows us these cautions as the characters in the movie are engrossed in a mobile device game of more, or less Truth or Dare.
In Nerve, Emma Roberts stars as a young woman whom is in talked by her snobbish best friend (Emily Meade) into playing an online truth and dare game, which players are dared into pulling crazy and dangerous stunts, which they win prize money.
The film has a good message and it teaches us about the dangers of online gaming and social media.
While I was sitting in the theater watching Nerve, all I could think about were things that I thought could have improved the movie going experience.
Let's get startedThe GOOD  Fun Adventure  Great Acting  Decent Story When I saw the trailer, I though the movie was going to be more of a serious thriller.
Her best friend is an extrovert who makes it her life goal to have the most fun possible at all opportunities, and has signed up for a city-wide internet dare game called Nerve.
Especially when it keeps a pretty fast pace the whole time.Overall it's a good little movie that is fun to watch and doesn't get too dumb towards the wrap-up.
Once dared by her best friend Sydney (Emily Meade of "Money Monster") to try Nerve: an online reality video game of objective-focused "truth or dare" where people either enlist online as "players" or pay to watch as "watchers".
It actually does a good job in displaying the kids of this generation, and it reflects what this generation likes and what its about.Nerve is a game played on the internet.
The movie also has us believe that every little thing Nerve does is completely automated, except for the dares sent by the watchers.