Nerve

A meek Staten Island teenager (Emma Roberts) impulsively joins an online game where players win cash for accepting dares; as the game progresses, the prizes get higher and the dares get more and more dangerous. Jessica Sharzer’s script (adapted from Jeanne Ryan’s novel) grows necessarily more far-fetched by the minute, eventually climaxing in a lecture on the dangers of peer pressure that practically flashes “Author’s Message.” But directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman set a lively, suspenseful pace, aided by Madeleine Gavin and Jeff McEvoy’s razor-sharp editing. The movie’s not-so-secret weapon is the sympathetic Roberts and her chemistry with costar Dave Franco as a fellow player. Emily Meade adds surprising depth to her role as Roberts’ BFF; other supports are good but tend to blur together. J.L.