Nerve

Are you a watcher or a player?

How much are you on your phone every day? You can check it out in the battery usage portion of your settings app, but I'll save you the trouble - you're on that sucker for way more than you think you are. 

In this era where entitlement is the law and instant gratification is the norm, smartphones and social networking have become a staple of our daily lives. We beg for attention in our apps and are quite literally addicted to scrolling through our Twitter feeds. These days, it's all about being "connected". Did you see that tweet? Did you watch that Periscope? How many Pokemon have you caught today?

Nerve takes our culture's social media obsession one step further; what if there was a way you could get paid to do dares, or pay to watch people do these dares? Better yet, what if all of this could be done on your cell phone, in a "social" context? Better yet, what if it could all be done anonymously? 

The result is a thrilling, thought provoking movie. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are both excellent and fun to keep up with through the rollercoaster of a night they have. I was on the edge of my seat - it's a nerve-wracking movie (get it haha I'm sorry), not only because of the insane spiral of dares they endure, but also because of the threat of the game itself and the forces behind it.

Watching the movie was, in a way, similar to being on my phone. It's fast paced. It's bright. It's colorful. It's got fantastic music. 

I think that's why, in the end, I felt so slimy. After a slightly on-the-nose speech by Emma Roberts' character, I felt just as bad as the "watchers" - the people who use this app and watch people suffer for their twisted enjoyment. After being a part of all of the flashy (yet incredibly well done and effective storytelling mechanisms) graphics and interfaces of the movie and it's game, I realized that, in the moment, I liked people less. And I liked myself less.

So though I could give this movie crap for it's sometimes overly cliched "high-school" characters or its slightly twisted understanding of technology when it aids the plot or the not forward-thinking-ness of the main character, I think all of it adds to what the movie is supposed to be - off-putting. Uncomfortable. Reflective.

Go watch Nerve and go think about all the questions it makes you ask. That's what makes it a great movie.

P.S. - The game is already coming to life. Yikes.