NERVE
A stylish warning whose dangers make it unacceptable viewing.
Should You Watch It?
NERVE is an exciting, scary thriller with neon visuals and popular electronic music that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It also gives a clear warning about technology, peer pressure, and the desire to gain attention or be loved.
But the warning comes wrapped in excessive objectionable content. Teenagers engage in dangerous and illegal dares, much of the bad behavior has no consequences, and the film includes foul language, violence, nudity, drinking, drunkenness, and immoral behavior. Its humanist solution also relies on people to solve the problem rather than God or the Bible.
The practical answer is simple: despite its merits and message, skip NERVE.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESTeenagers are drawn into Nerve, an online multiplayer game that lets people choose to be watchers or players. Players complete dares for money while watchers observe through live-streamed video.
A shy New York City high school student named Vee is exhilarated when she first joins. After meeting a mysterious stranger named Ian, she completes increasingly risky dares with him—until the game traps her and demands the unthinkable.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means NERVE has real craft and energy, though its weaknesses keep it from being fully satisfying. The exciting camerawork, neon lights, and electronic music make the movie mesmerizing and keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Underneath the adrenaline-fueled action, however, the characters are shallow. Their motivations and actions do not always make sense. Vee’s choices feel unrealistic, while Tommy lacks passion and Sydney’s constant competition with Vee makes their friendship difficult to understand.
The Worldview
NERVE warns that technology becomes dangerous when combined with peer pressure and the desire for attention or love. It also suggests that technology can be used both to create trouble and to escape it. That moral warning is worthwhile.
The film’s larger solution is humanist: if the right people are in control, everything will turn out all right, but if the wrong people are in control, chaos follows. The story therefore mixes moral elements with a view that relies on human beings rather than God or the Bible.
The movie’s references to Ancient Roman culture—Vee’s full name is Venus and the final round takes place in a gladiatorial arena—suggest that human behavior has not fundamentally changed. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Yet Christians can still hope that Jesus Christ will redeem the world.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong mixed pagan worldview with humanist message supporting the power of human beings over the world around them, mixed with a strong moral message that teaches wise media choices and warns against peer pressure; 16 obscenities (including one “f” word), 17 light exclamatory profanities, a couple light references to fornication; strong and light violence includes teenager falls to his death (death not shown), teenagers engage in risky/dangerous behavior throughout, some gun violence, a girl is punched in the face and blood is shown; implied fornication between two teenagers, teenagers shown kissing, teenagers dance seductively; brief lower rear female nudity, teenagers wear provocative clothes throughout, girl is shown undressing and in her underwear for an extended scene, an image of a nearly-bare female rear end, man is shown in his underwear; teenage drinking throughout, plus drunkenness discussed; brief images of illegal drugs; teenagers lie to and disrespect parents, stealing, miscellaneous illegal activity, and cyber bullying.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The game uses peer pressure and the desire to be loved to draw teenagers into danger. When have you felt pressure to prove yourself, and how can wisdom help you resist it?
Proverbs 1:10 · Romans 12:2NERVE shows technology being used both to harm people and to help solve problems. How should Christians think about the power and responsibility that come with technology?
1 Corinthians 10:31 · Ephesians 5:15–16Much of the film’s bad behavior has no consequences. Why do consequences matter, and what does Scripture say about sowing and reaping?
Galatians 6:7–8The movie offers human beings as the answer to human problems. Where does Scripture direct us to look for rescue from evil?
Psalm 121:1–2 · Colossians 1:13–14The Final Word
NERVE is stylish and suspenseful, and its warning about technology and peer pressure has merit. But its excessive content and human-centered solutions make it unacceptable viewing. For a safer family choice, see.
