Send Help
review by Bobby Blakey
Ever since bursting on the scene with his cult favorite Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi has been churning out a wide variety of films from his comic themed with the original Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to non-horror such as Oz the Great and Powerful and the Quick and the Dead. His latest film Send Help re-teams him up with Rachel McAdams alongside Dylan O’Brien, and Dennis Haysbert.
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Send Help follows two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it's an unsettling, darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
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Heading into this film I had an idea what Raimi seemed to be going for from the trailers, but coming out on the other side it was not what I had expected in a good way. There are all the elements of what it promoted, but the tone, humor and direction is something a bit different than you might expect. It is a great return to form for Raimi that had moments via the tone and camerawork that felt like Evil Dead while being its own animal all together.
The story set up is simple with just enough subtle background info and office drama to set everything up. They did a great job of making you believe that she could do all these things to help them survive, which in turn is the perfect twist of their status and how it pits them against each other and work together. There are many twists and turns with some you will see coming and others you might not. It keeps the relationship shifting nonstop to keep you invested right up until the crazy final act.
Both O’Brien and McAdams are excellent, bringing all the emotions, compassion
and rage needed for this story to work. McAdam steals the show as she weaves in and out of personas from the fragile and frustrated overworked and overlooked office worker to the confident survivor on the island. She brings cuteness to her mannerisms that still have a hint of something darker there when needed.
O’Brien is on the other side of the coin as the pompous and unlikable boss who is forced to ask for her help and submit his toxic masculinity to survive. He goes through his own range of emotions and darkness, but you never really know if he is really learning or changing even when it seems obvious. Their dysfunction and connection is what makes this film of survival, chaos and obsession work in a fun, strange, emotional and violent way.
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Decide for yourself and check out Send Help in theaters now from 20th Century Studios.