In 2016, when they made ‘Nerve‘, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman already had in their joint filmography the series 3 and 4 of the horror cycle ‘Paranormal Activity‘ as well as ‘Catfish‘, a successful documentary that deals with romantic relationships online and their dangers. ‘Nerve‘ is a combination of these two genres and more, adding elements of teenage romance and cruel ‘truth or dare’ reality games like. It is the style of movies that can be watched simply for relaxation, especially by fans of one of these genres, or that can also be viewed as a warning about the capture of public and private space by social networks that turn the Internet from a medium of communication in an alternative space that monopolizes and controls the whole life. This hybrid combination works at times unexpectedly well in ‘Nerve‘.
The film begins as a story about college students searching for a path in life and especially for themselves. They are all connected to the magical space of the Internet, both for entertainment and because a large part of their social life takes place there. The main heroine – a girl named Vee – connects – in response to a friend’s challenge – to a network game called Nerve which divides the world into ‘players’ and ‘watchers’. ‘Players’ accept challenges, ‘Watchers’ follow them everywhere, bet on them and reward those who fulfill their missions, which become more and more dangerous. Within hours, the game absorbs Vee, who not only crosses the virtual border between ‘watchers’ and ‘players’ but also the physical boundary – whose crossing is forbidden by her mother’s family discipline – between the suburbs of Staten Island and Manhattan, being absorbed by the game and by the great metropolis that become areas of danger as stakes and rewards in the game increase.
Like many other genre films, ‘Nerve‘ skillfully uses visual elements borrowed from digital game graphics, giving viewers the immersive feeling that they are watching such a game. Emma Roberts who plays the role of Vee and Dave Franco, in the role of partner, adversary, and inevitably, of her romantic interest, are both well cast and play their roles with charm and personality. The story is quite interesting for a good part of the film, except maybe for the final part which surprises precisely by the lack of the inventiveness that characterised the rest of the film. How should we relate to movies like ‘Nerve‘? Should we take them seriously or treat them as pure entertainment movies that only use the format? It ultimately depends on each of the spectators. 12 years after ‘Catfish‘ and 5 years after ‘Nerve‘ were made it can be said that the presence of social networks in our lives has only increased, the use and benefits they bring have become more visible, but the dangers also have become more obvious. After all, on the Internet and social media, as well as in the conventions of this kind of movies, the answers depend on us. ‘Watchers’ or ‘Players’?