Nerve

“Are you a watcher or a player?” has become an iconic quote of the summer. Originally based off of the novel by Jeanne Ryan, Nerve starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, has become a summer smash hit. The plot line follows a girl named Vee who is tired of her boring life and of being teased by her daring friend for not taking any chances. So she joins an online game, Nerve, as a player, where the watchers determine what her dares will be as she films and posts them to the site for money. On a dare, Vee encounters another popular player named Ian, and continues the game with him, chaos ensuing. The movie received mixed reviews, some critics raving about the acting and others tearing down the aspect of realism that was necessary to try to connect to the audience. Overall, the acting was especially impressive, although Roberts in her twenties and Franco in his thirties may have been a stretch to play distressed teenagers. Nevertheless, they did a fantastic job, and both actor’s personas came across young enough to fit. The ending, however, has some plot holes: no long-term consequences for any of the people responsible for the creation of the game or the watchers who encouraged crime were displayed; there was no follow-up on Vee or Ian’s families or own aftermath either, aside from the brief glimpse of their relationship at the very end. Consequently, the best part of the movie includes the dares between the two main characters and the plot twist at the end without much resolution to conclude. Nerve grossed approximately $40 million and currently has a 62% “fresh” rating on rotten tomatoes.