Send Help crash-landed into theaters this past weekend and is directed by horror legend, Sam Raimi. It is the first horror film to be directed by Raimi since Drag Me to Hell from 2009. However, it is debatable if this film falls strictly into the category of survival horror, or if it is more of a dark comedy than anything else. Before we make that distinction, let’s dive right in and determine whether or not this film survives the critique or is left to die from starvation.
The film tells the story of Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), a corporate employee whose life gets turned upside down when a plane crash leaves her stranded on a deserted island with her out-of-touch boss, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien). Linda is able to get the upper hand over Bradley for the first time ever due to her extensive survivalist knowledge, which leads to a back-and-forth power struggle between the two for the duration of the plot. The setup is short and to the point, establishing both characters and creating an interesting dynamic between them throughout. The story contains several twists and turns that are always changing their relationship and keeping the audience on their toes. Despite a few twists that might be a tad predictable to some viewers, it is mostly fresh and original.
The strongest aspects of the film are the performances and chemistry of the lead actors. Rachel McAdams shows incredible range playing a character that is able to be relatable, unstable, terrifying, and hilarious all at the same time. In the same vein, Dylan O’Brien is able to make his character a charismatic antagonist that is actually sympathetic at several points throughout. Both characters succeed at being archetypes that never fall back on stereotypes, something that required careful planning and thought from both the writers and actors. Additionally, the clever camerawork and energetic directing style from Sam Raimi manages to bring out the best in the actors to deliver many memorable moments.
However, this film is not a perfect slam dunk. The nearly 2-hour runtime causes the pacing to drag a bit in the middle act, showing that perhaps Raimi needed to “kill his darlings” and trim down a few of the sequences a bit in order to keep things moving along. Another potential issue is that the humor tends to be rather hit-or-miss at points, taking many big swings with gross out, gore, and “cringe comedy” which may leave some people groaning. The ending also takes a big swing and may be controversial to some, depending on how one feels about the characters. On a technical note, the biggest flaw is that the CGI looks pretty cheap at times, often looking worse than the CGI from some of Raimi’s earlier work in the 2000s. This was distracting at times, but never ruins anything.
Overall, Send Help is an entertaining movie that never takes itself too seriously, and is brought up a lot by great performances and the fun directorial style. But some flaws hold it back from being an all-time classic. Still, it manages to be a unique take on office power dynamics and survival horror, potentially giving viewers a few pointers on how to survive their own toxic workplaces in the real world!
