Have you ever played Truth or Dare? You may have played this game as children, or even in your teenage years. However, you haven’t seen Truth or Dare quite like this. Nerve is an internet thriller to be released today, July 27th, 2016. Let’s just say the game here focuses more on the dares than on the truths…
High school senior Venus Delmonico (Also known as Vee) is a quiet student who doesn’t really like to experiment with new things. When an game comes out called Nerve, her friends start pressuring her to play it. They try to convince her that she is a watcher, and not a player. But to prove her friends wrong, she decides to enlist online as a player instead. Vee is then asked to participate in a series of dares, and finds herself caught in a string of deadly objectives with a fellow player, Ian. What will Vee do to try to escape the game?
Watchers pay to watch, players play to win cash and glory.
I found out about this movie through one of Casey Neistat’s vlogs: “Movie Stars Prank The Press”. Not only did he complete an epic prank with the stars of Nerve, but he also makes a quick cameo in the movie as one of the players. I am a huge fan of youtubers, so when I found out he was making an appearance, I knew I had to watch.
As soon as the movie started I was instantly captivated. Vee is a very relatable character – she stays out of trouble, is a photographer for her yearbook, and has a typical crush on the football player. Seeing her click the “player” button and become a part of the game was truly an incredible moment, and really made you excited for the rest of the movie. Really, the whole storyline was an emotional journey. At the start of the movie you are laughing about how awkward she is when trying to accomplish the dares, or how she tries to loophole some of the requests. By the middle of the movie you are on the edge of your seat thinking “Is she seriously doing that?! Is she crazy?!” By the very end, you are covering your face with your hands, and peeking through your fingers, hoping nothing bad happens.
Nerve Movie Dare © Lionsgate
Life is passing you by, you need to take a risk once in awhile.
With the Pokemon Go phenomenon that is currently taking the world by storm, this movie is being released at the perfect time. Although they are different concepts, I feel like it is a great representation on how far we can get involved with a game, while not realizing the consequences. There are constant headlines about the ‘dangers’ of Pokemon Go, so it’s interesting to see Nerve play up these dangers. The dares in Nerve were so realistic, that while watching I was thinking: “I really hope people don’t get any ideas”. Not only that, but the players were winning real money to complete dares that even I would try. The realism of the movie is what I feel made it so great.
The cinematography of this movie was also incredible. The majority of the timeline was filmed at night in New York City. They really played up those neon colours, and it gives the movie an incredible glow that you don’t often see. The whole filming had a very ‘young’ vibe to it which made it a very pleasant watch. I found the soundtrack to be a bit surprising. They chose some unique songs that fit perfectly with the movie, but were very unexpected. There were songs by popular artists such as Icona Pop, and Wu-Tang Clan – but many indie artists as well. I found myself rushing home to google the soundtrack before I forgot some of the songs.
The only way out is to win.
Overall, this was an incredible movie that I would see again. It is rated PG-13 here in Canada, so even though it is classified as a thriller, it’s definitely not a super scary movie. I really hope more movies like this come out in the near future. More and more movies are coming out that are gaming related, and I’m loving seeing all the positive reviews. If you are planning to see the movie, let us know! And don’t forget to send us your comments and thoughts about it. Oh, and don’t forget to tell us: Are you a player, or a watcher?