‘Send Help’ Review #2

Stars: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, Dennis Haysbert, Thaneth Warakulnukroh | Written by Mark Swift, Damian Shannon | Directed by Sam Raimi

Director Sam Raimi makes a welcome return to horror with Send Help, 17 years after his previous foray into the genre with Drag Me To Hell (2009). Co-starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, his new film finds him back on familiar form, injecting a desert island survival thriller with jet-black humour and lashings of wince-inducing gore.

McAdams plays socially awkward office drone Linda Liddle, who’s passed over for a promotion when nepo-baby boss Bradley Preston (O’Brien) inherits his dead father’s position and instead promotes his frat boy bro Donovan (Xavier Samuel) to the job Linda had been promised. Realising the company needs Linda’s knowledge for a planned international merger, Bradley invites her along on the company jet, but things go horribly wrong when the plane crashes mid-flight, killing everyone except Bradley and Linda, who wash up together on a desert island.

It quickly transpires that Linda’s obsession with the TV show Survivor (something Bradley and his colleagues had mocked her for) has given her a set of valuable skills when it comes to living on a desert island. Sure enough, with Bradley injured, the tables soon turn, and the pair achieve a begrudging partnership, until their opinions suddenly differ on the best way to escape their predicament.

The presence of Sam Raimi behind the camera for something like this automatically implies a certain tone, one that involves extremely black humour and gore moments that are pushed to extremes. To that end, Raimi sets out his stall relatively early, with a key scene in which Linda has an extremely violent encounter with a wild boar, which results in her getting drenched in blood and, in a telling character note, finds the whole experience rather exhilarating.

The script, by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, plays some intriguing games with the way the audience’s sympathy shifts for the characters. On that note, there’s a particular turn that comes close to backfiring, but it ultimately works, thanks to the strength of the direction and the performances.

There are some other clever elements in the script too, whether it’s the way in which certain details are repeated in different contexts (e.g. an early office scene where Linda repulses everyone because she has a bit of tuna fish on her face), or some well-aimed stabs at toxic male behaviour and office politics. On a similar note, there are echoes of Ruben Ostlund’s blackly comic satire, Triangle of Sadness, in the way the obnoxious, entitled boss is suddenly dependent on someone he viewed as socially inferior.

McAdams commits wholeheartedly to the role, delivering a decidedly vanity-free performance that works well. In her hands, Linda’s character arc from put-upon loser to resourceful badass is a joy to watch, especially when we realise what a mischievous streak she has.

O’Brien (who’s having a great week – he’s terrific in Twinless, which also has a UK release right now) is equally good as Bradley. Indeed, it’s a testament to how assured his performance is that he manages to claw back some audience sympathy after being such a colossal douchebag for the majority of the movie.

In short, Send Help is a fun, gory ride, enlivened by McAdams’ all-in performance and Raimi’s signature direction. It’s ultimately closer to gory black comedy than it is to outright horror, but it’s no less entertaining for that.

**** 4/5

Send Help is in cinemas now.