Send Help Review
Part cringey workplace drama, part Cast Away, part rom-com and part gory horror, Send Help mixes genres while keeping everything fun, lighthearted and engaging.
Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a put upon officeworker, distraught when her new boss - Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), son of the former company owner who promised her a promotion - overlooks her, buddying up with one of her office foes. But on a trip to Bangkok in the company jet, turbulence strikes, and Linda finds herself stranded on an island when their plane crashes. The only other survivor? Her asshole new boss.
Sam Raimi’s Send Help has its fair share of tropes and low-budget horror fare vibes. The early office sequences are close in and seem fairly ‘affordable’, shall we say. The CGI on the trailer-revealed plane crash isn’t great. And even a couple of squeamish later effects bely a somewhat lower cost than a great name like that should be able to conjure.
But at its whole, this is a film that plays on a great script and wonderful lead performances, along with a wonderful central conceit. Trapped on an island, stranded, with your brutal boss at your mercy. It’s enough to make anyone go mad.
Rachel McAdams is wonderful as the pitiable but also crazy, survivalist, and ultimately bloodthirsty put upon employee, and Dylan O’Brien does well as the smarmy asshole of a boss. O’Brien and McAdams both have moments to shine, although perhaps none moreso than a particular scene with a scalding hot knife, a neurotoxin, and what seems to be a horrid mutilation.
Raimi makes you squirm just as much in the banal office sequences as he does in the brutal island sequences. You’ll find yourself recoiling as much at an obtrusive bit of tuna fish around Linda’s lips as you will from a finger in her eye socket. And indeed, this is a film that trades on that squeamish feeling, because this is never really truly scary. Sure, the final sequence with some wonderful work from the makeup department on McAdams looks like something out of a horror movie, but for the most part what makes this movie so tense and horrifying is the idyllic setting, and the deeply unsettling play on power imbalances. So while it never truly scares, you’ll find yourself cringing in disgust, pity or awe for a decent chunk of this film’s runtime.
Ultimately, what should be said about Send Help is that it is fun. This is a movie that never takes itself too seriously. The craft is solid, the script and performances excellent, and Raimi brings a sense of joy to the work that makes it a pleasure to watch. You can imagine this being a hit for a date, or for a catch up with some friends at the cinema - with plenty of moments to discuss over dinner afterwards.
