Movie Review: Send Help

By John Corrado

What would you do if you found yourself stranded on a desert island with your asshole boss? Now imagine that boss, who has constantly belittled you as an employee, has no survival skills, and now you hold all the power?

That’s the basic premise behind Send Help, the new film from director Sam Raimi, which finds the genre filmmaker going old school and back to his roots for the first time since Drag Me to Hell in 2009. It’s an enjoyable mix of gnarly survival thriller, horror movie, and exploration of shifting power dynamics.

The film is essentially a two-hander between stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, who both very capably carry almost the entire movie on their shoulders. McAdams is Linda Liddle, the meek and socially awkward desk employee from strategy and planning at Preston Strategic Solutions, a company right out of a Mike Judge satire. O’Brien is Bradley Preston, the arrogant and demeaning nepo baby who becomes her new boss after acquiring the company from his late father.

Linda has been promised a promotion, but Bradley takes an instant dislike to her and is endlessly cruel. But, little does he know that Linda, despite her unassuming appearance, has long dreamed of being a contestant on Survivor. When their plane crashes during a business trip, Linda and Bradley end up stranded on a deserted island together. His leg is injured in the crash, and she nurses him back to health. Now, by default, Linda holds a position of power over him, with Bradley having to rely on her to provide him food, water, and shelter.

Raimi’s film largely eschews being a message movie (it could only be interpreted as a “girl power” movie in the broadest strokes), instead pushing both characters to some pretty messed up places in its exploration of how power corrupts. It’s been described as a mix between Misery and Cast Away, but with a distinctly Raimi flavour to it, to be sure.

The director delivers the expected gore and gross out gags (some really gross, including one particularly squeamish vomiting scene), as they encounter wild boars, uncompromising elements, and any number of creepy crawlies. But it’s also shockingly funny at times. The best thing going for Send Help is how the film is able to deliver that mix of making us squirm and laugh in near equal measure.

The film is also cognizant of the fact that this is the setup for your classic enemies-to-lovers rom-com, which is why the screenplay by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift has so much fun walking a careful tonal balance and shifting genres from scene to scene. McAdams is genuinely good in this sort of role, including moments when she gets to be unhinged. We have to feel some level of sympathy for her character in order for this to work, and McAdams is able to find the right balance as Linda goes from bullied employee to stone cold survivalist.

Sure, you could pick at aspects of the plot. But Send Help is proudly a B-movie, and the best sort of January release you can hope for. It’s pulpy and fun, providing the right kind of escapism without taking itself too seriously while also delivering the jump scares and twists throughout. What better way to get out of the snow and cold than to spend a couple of hours in a movie theatre trapped on a hot desert island with some sickos?