When it comes to survival movies, specifically those about one person or more trying to survive on an island where no help is coming, you could split the genre into two separate movies that are somewhat foundational and pave the way. One of which is Robert Zemeckis’ Cast Away, an inspiring tale about one man surrounded by needless complications. The other is John Boorman’s Hell in the Pacific, where the ideologies of two men end up clashing with each other that is more important than survival. In the case of Sam Raimi’s latest, Send Help, it is clearly about the latter.
Rachel McAdams plays the meek corporate strategist Linda Liddle, who looks forward to a long-deserved promotion promised by her former boss, despite his son Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) who recently became CEO of his family’s financial management company, having decided to give that promotion to someone else. When Linda and Bradley travel for a business trip to Bangkok to finalize the company’s impending merger, their plane crashes and they become the only survivors left stranded on a deserted island.
While it is easy to map out where Send Help is going once we reach the island, the first act does a great job of establishing the two characters through their personality and life-style, from Linda whose only real interaction is her pet bird, to Bradley being more sociable despite being an absolute rich dick of a boss who takes pleasure with a maniacal laugh. However, on the island, Linda flexes with her extensive survival skills that she hoped to use when auditioning for the reality show Survivor, making her the one in charge, while the still-cocky Bradley is out of his depth.
With the twisty and playful nature of Mark Swift and Damian Shannon’s script for Send Help, you can see why this would appeal to Sam Raimi, who makes his first original piece since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell, which is evoked during the first act that takes place during office hours. Through Raimi’s gleeful and unhinged direction, he takes full advantage of the island where the two leads pummel their way in order to survive, including a truly gnarly sequence involving boar hunting.
Much like The Evil Dead, there are yucky moments and yet you can see the humor coming out of these sticky situations. Working with frequent collaborators like cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Bob Murawski and composer Danny Elfman, you can tell that Raimi is having fun with the camera itself being a character, even though his instincts as a horror filmmaker can lead to some cheap jumpscares, including a silly dream sequence.
Considering that Raimi likes to put his actors through the ringer, it is a good thing that Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien commit to the madness. McAdams, in particular, has always reveled in genre cinema and if there is an opportunity to showcase her comedy side, she will.
As much as you enjoy Linda’s bubbly nature, much to the chagrin of everyone else, it’s really when she relishes as the survivalist expert that McAdams nails as she balances the line between comedy and horror. As for her co-star, who is known as the clean-shaven young hero of The Maze Runner, O’Brien plays against type to amazing effect where you don’t know if you are meant to feel empathy due to his current predicament.
