Send Help

Director: Sam Raimi 
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O' Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, Thaneth Warakulnukroh, Emma Raimi
Running Time: 113 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)  

Sam Raimi's Send Help is a survival story where you're not sure who should survive. But while under normal circumstances the refusal to give audiences someone to root for is seen as a glaring flaw, that's what makes this experience more gripping, especially after an opening that has us wondering whether we're in for a total disaster. And though not without certain imperfections, it's compulsively watchable, as Raimi commits to the absurdity, shifting between farce and barbaric horror to deliver a cleverly twisted morality tale. 

Despite fan comparisons and minor stylistic similarities, this bares little resemblance to Raimi's The Evil Dead or Drag Me to Hell, aside from finding the director back in top form, doing what he's best at. And though the jury's still out on the film's rewatch value, it's undeniably loads of fun, even when you're occasionally distracted by some oddball choices or questionable CGI. But after a bit, hardly any of that matters, due mostly to its great premise and a brilliant performance from Rachel McAdams that feels as if she's hitting half a dozen notes at once, each more intriguing than the next. 

Hardworking but awkward and goofy financial planning strategist Linda Liddle (McAdams) is expecting a long deserved promotion from new CEO Billy Preston (Dylan O' Brien), who recently inherited his deceased father's company. Instead, he passes Linda over for former fraternity brother Donovan (Xavier Samuel), citing her overbearing personality and nerdy appearance. But when Bradley reluctantly has her tag along with the team for a trip to Bangkok to help finalize a merger, the plane hits a storm and crashes, killing everyone except Linda and Bradley, who wash up separately on a remote island. 

Putting her Survivor fandom to good use, Linda builds a shelter, gathers food and nurses the ungrateful Bradley back to health despite him continuing to treat her as if she's his underling. But irritated and desperate to escape, what he doesn't count on is his abused employee suddenly calling the shots. And for him to have any chance at leaving and reuniting with his model fiancée Zuri (Edyll Ismail), he'd be wise to start cooperating. Gradually, Linda and Bradley begin to peacefully co-exist, but with rescue imminent, neither remain capable of fully trusting the other, leading to explosive results.  

Some of the early office scenes are really over-the-top in establishing these two characters, especially the bookwormish Linda, whose cringeworthy, borderline cartoonish behavior in social situations has uncomfortable bosses and co-workers looking to heave themselves out of the nearest window. At first, it's hard to believe she's somehow this superstar employee, but McAdams manages to sell that also, painting this portrait of a people pleasing do-gooder who shoulders all the work these high level executives dump on her and take credit for. 

After meeting the company's heir apparent in O' Brien's arrogant, entitled Bradley, the irritating Linda suddenly seems more sympathetic, if not the better end of the deal. Silently fuming over her treatment, she begrudgingly puts up with the guys' behavior right up until the exciting, comedically gory plane crash that reveals just how hopeless everyone is without her help. Especially Bradley, who miraculously survives, only to find himself stranded with the last person he wants to spend an extra minute with. Worse yet, he's now entirely dependent on her support. 

Really in her element on this island, Linda reveals surprising survival instincts that would make Jeff Probst proud, emerging as a completely different, more confident person when out from under the thumb of her demeaning boss. Of course Bradley doesn't take kindly to his subservient position, hinting at an inevitable clash as he continues to show his true colors as a grown baby incapable of working with others. But the strongest portion of the film arrives when they appear to reach a compromise, opening up about their very revealing histories and finding some common ground.  

Since this tentative truce can't last, we anxiously wait for the big payoff. And does it ever come, with a few jaw dropping scenes, most notably one involving an octopus toxin. Linda has to feel needed while Bradley must regain control, creating a recipe for the kind of conflict that couldn't happen during a regular work day. But on this island, all bets are off. One of them has to turn on the other, and when it happens, Raimi revs up for a diabolically dark and comical third act filled with violence and a polarizing twist sure to grab viewers' attention. 

There's also that pesky issue of "rescue," a word and concept that doesn't register equally for both. As shallow as it is or how little he seems to appreciate it, Bradley has a life to go back to while Linda's consists of watching Survivor with her pet bird. We see the toll that this and the secret she's carrying has taken, understanding why a return to the status quo is her worst nightmare. For now, she's in charge, and plans on pulling out all the stops to keep it that way. 

McAdams is given material to figuratively and literally sink her teeth into opposite a co-star who's up to the challenge. But the film rests entirely on her shoulders as she obscures the clumsier elements in Damian Shannon and Mark Swift's script with a tour de force turn that deserves recognition. Given the genre, that might be an uphill climb, but the concept is fresh in how it pits two shades of grey characters against each other in this life-or-death scenario. And that smash cut at the end is a kicker, as Raimi and editor Bob Murowski go out with one of the more memorably jarring transitions we've seen. 

Tables turn quickly when these adversaries' worst instincts rise to the surface while cruelly and selfishly angling for the upper hand. Viewers are awkwardly urged to choose sides, picking their poison between a wacked out weirdo and misogynistic pig. And yet it somehow becomes much more complicated than that as the story evolves. Less Cast Away than Lord of the Flies or Yellowjackets, it's a biting, often hilarious satire about how power dynamics can flip on a dime once everything else is stripped away.