[TCN Film Review] Send Help

After their company plane crashes during a storm, loyal but unappreciated employee Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) finds herself marooned on a desert island with her pampered boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien). A competent outdoorswoman, Linda proves more than capable of surviving in their newfound home, while Bradley struggles. This results in a sort of role reversal, putting Linda in charge, and enraging Bradley.

Imagine if Sam Raimi had directed Cast Away. That’s essentially what you get with Send Help, only instead of a volleyball, Linda has a nepo baby for company. There’s no denying that the movie also shares more than a few plot points with Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, although they inevitably go in fairly different directions. Thanks to her abilities, Linda’s tropical island life is surprisingly pleasant to begin with, but it slowly devolves from mere survival into a delicious battle of wills. A crazy situation, to which anyone who has ever had a terrible boss – or known a giant a**hole – will no doubt be able to relate.

Rachel McAdams is perfectly awkward and excitable as the woman from Planning & Strategy. It’s more than easy to sympathise with Linda, but McAdams isn’t afraid to be a little weird too, making her island transformation both enjoyable and a little unnerving. While Dylan O’Brien channels his inner slimeball – and then some – in order to bring to life what could be the most despicable boss since Colin Farrell played ‘Bobby Pellit’ in Horrible Bosses.

Shot in a beautiful part of Australia, there is a definite sense of isolation to Send Help. The two survivors are not only made to feel very much alone on that beach, but far from civilisation as well. It does, however, become a bit distracting when scenes shot on location are mixed with those filmed – rather obviously – in a studio, thanks mostly to some underwhelming visual effects.

Not that some sub-par CGI prevents Raimi from putting us right in the middle of everything. His love of close-ups and weird camera angles comes nicely into play here. So much so that a scene in which Linda hunts a wild boar, and another involving an octopus, feel almost too intimate. And I didn’t even get to experience the movie in 3D, which I imagine would have heightened those scenes somewhat.

A subtle soundtrack keeps things simmering while Raimi allows the sound of the wilderness, and some blood-curdling screams from Bradley, to truly keep the audience on edge. The aforementioned scene involving an octopus is cleverly put together with a few close-ups, but it’s the accompanying audio that elevates it to nightmare levels. A nightmare that is sure to make even the toughest men wince!

Raimi has always had a unique approach to filmmaking, and this could be the most Raimi he has been in some time. He certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to showing just how tough survival can be, in all its gory detail – parts of which reminded me of one of his early films; Stryker’s War. But Send Help isn’t simply about survival. It’s about this delightful role reversal, and watching Linda enjoy her newfound power.

The tension slowly builds as she begins to relish her new position over an increasingly resentful Bradley. It may make the movie a little long, but this delightfully slow burn keeps you on edge, wondering just how this all will end. And while the movie doesn’t exactly explore the psychology of such a situation, seeing how it affects our underdog is rather fascinating. All throughout you’re rooting for Linda, but you never really know what she’s going to do, and slowly she begins to terrify you.

The only way I can think to describe Send Help is survival/dark comedy/horror movie. The kind only Sam Raimi can bring to life. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are fantastic as two people caught in this crazy role reversal situation. One that gradually descends into beautiful, delicious carnage. It will gross you out, it will freak you out, and in those moments it will somehow make you laugh… and occasionally wince.

Review Score: 8/10

Send Help is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.