There a lot of movies that exploit the possible terrors of technology. David Cronenberg did it with Videodrome, Minority Report made touch screens a tool for catching future criminals. Nerve is nowhere near as masterfully made as those films, but its own message of techno-terror may be the most topical story about modern obsession.

Directed by Catfish duo Henry Jost, and Ariel Schulman, Nerve may be to the thriller genre what Unfriended is to the horror genre. Both film’s use of modern technology will mean that they will become dated from the moment of their release, doesn’t take away from their eschewing of systems that we use for security, entertainment, and most importantly gratification.

Emma Roberts is Vee, a high school senior who gets pressured into playing the online game Nerve. Nerve is an interactive game of truth or dare, without the truth. You can be either a Player, or you can pay to become a watcher, as players are set real world challenges. There are only three rules if you are a player: all dares must be recorded on the player's phone, earned money will be revoked if a player fails or "bails" a dare, and a player must not report the game to law enforcement. Vee joins the game to prove that she is adventurous, meeting fellow player Dave Franco along the way.

The film follows a strange, choose your own adventure structure, except it’s the game that makes these decisions. The shady folks behind Nerve respect a good narrative as they set Roberts, and Franco’s characters challenges with romantic overtones, until they don’t.

Nerve is a strange type of thriller. Its colour scheme and half found footage style of shooting give it a distinct visual freshness, and Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, both in rare lead roles, make for a charming pair. But it’s what Nerve says about our own culture that makes this solid movie even more relevant. There are the obvious comparisons to Pokemon Go, another interactive global game that has taken over players lives, but it also delves deeper into post internet culture. Players don’t play Nerve for the money, they ply for the glory, the sick version of being Youtube famous.

The film does have flaws, for all its great themes its execution can feel a bit amateurish, which isn’t surprising since it’s made by the directors of Paranormal Activity 3, and 4. Still, Nerve is a fun, throwaway late summer feature that dares you to take it seriously.