It has been a long time since I have watched a film that has lived up to its hype (which was surprisingly minimal). And to be honest, this alternative, edgy film has done more than promised. Simple in execution. Masterful in expression. This movie is thought provoking without being pretensive. Throughout the narrative, you wonder if things could possibly be “pushed” a bit further. But you leave with a cohesive picture that highlights the storyline as much as the moral behind the story.
So before we go any further, check out the trailer.
Set in 2020, with the teen-film old-schoolers Emma Roberts and Dave Franco at the forefront, this is a movie that rides scarily close to reality. Basically, if you took Pokémon Go, Facebook, Periscope, and added a payment system – you have Nerve. But even without the payment system, I think that we already have a version of this fabled game in our lives.
Our currency may not be cold hard cash, but the lengths that people will go to to get recognition isn’t far off of what these characters are willing to do. Instagram and Facebook likes are currency to a large amount of our generation – especially teenagers. The need to fit in, while also being your own person, has resulted in a very dangerous digital reality.
Allowing the general public to nurture your actions – first through your online presence and ultimately your whole life – enforces an existence that is reliant solely on the opinions of others. The modern day mob is not only those standing in the streets shouting for blood. It is the millions sitting behind the comfort of their screens – anonymous and therefore more wicked.
Just because people have an opinion doesn’t mean it needs to be published. And these days, it has resulted in a hypersensitivity around polarising issues on social media. Never before has it been so easy to victimise people. Never before has it been so easy to become a victim.
Nerve simply explores a life where people online define the reality of an individual. Not far off from what’s happening to young people today. If you have found yourself looking to apps on your phone for affirmation; if you have allowed what someone has said online to affect you; if your perspective of life has been marred by the general public’s obsessions and ridicules, may I encourage you to take a look at where you are living from?
God is our source. God is our solution. God is the ultimate authority on every part of who you are. You might not think so, but I can say from experience that the more I have sought to know God, the more I have become my true self – healthy and unaffected by the fickleness of other broken people.
If you want to hear an opinion that will grow your life rather than limit it, click on the link below.