Published:
Readtime: 4 min
Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.
With Send Help, celebrated director Sam Raimi takes his first true plunge back into big-screen horror since Drag Me to Hell surfaced nearly two decades ago. Raimi’s welcome return to the genre arrives as one hell of a good crowd movie, built around the simple premise of two corporate colleagues (Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien) stranded on a deserted island with nothing but emotional baggage.
It’s a wildly entertaining reminder of the singular voice of the man behind the (OG) Evil Dead trilogy.
Send Help: A workplace horror, on a deserted island
We’ve all likely had some experience or another in the workplace where a co-worker walks all over us, unduly exerts power, or quietly undermines our efforts.
Maybe there was a fleeting thought that arose with that unjust moment about how much you’d just like to bury them. Send Help takes that universal fantasy to literal, extreme conclusions.
Unhinged in the best way, the film plays like a fever dream, pivoting effortlessly between black comedy and shock horror.
Imagine films like Triangle of Sadness, The Blue Lagoon, and 9 to 5, then add Raimi’s trademark grotesque sight gags and bodily fluids. The result is a mounting sense that absolutely anything might—and probably will—happen next.
Largely a two-hander between Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, the film lives or dies on
their wits and wills.
McAdams delivers a horror-comedy tour de force as Linda Liddle, a mousy, overlooked corporate strategist whose survivalist hobby becomes a lifeline on a remote Thai island.
There are a lot of shades to Linda, and McAdams explores them all, from awkward optimism to simmering resentment. We haven’t seen very much of McAdams in recent years (she gave a stellar supporting turn in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret), so it’s deeply satisfying to find her here, in a kick-ass leading role.
O’Brien plays a tech bro prick with just enough charm to keep things interesting. As Bradley Preston, he is corporate entitlement personified, a nepo baby clinging to hierarchy and ego long after those constructs have washed out to sea.
Watching his carefully curated alpha posturing collapse in the face of hunger, heat
and helplessness is one of the film’s great pleasures, and O’Brien leans into that with relish.
Send Help is Sam Raimi doing what he does best. It’s hard to recall another director that has effectively combined slapstick comedy and horror to such bracing effect, pushing tonal boundaries and daring the audience to stay afloat.
There’s an ingeniously clever script buried in the sand here, courtesy of Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who seem to have combined their previous work—2017’s Baywatch and 2009’s Friday the 13th into a single effort.
It’s a genre mashup that feels tailor-made for Raimi’s sensibilities, and few directors could pull it off with
such confidence. The CGI is a little rough around the edges (to say the least), but in a strange way it only adds to the campy, midnight-movie energy of it all.
The film’s penultimate question asks what you would really do if stranded on a deserted island with a horrible coworker. This answer favours brutality with a story that boasts an all-guts, no-glory third act that may test the tolerance (and patience) of some.
One scene in particular is guaranteed to make every man in the audience squirm and wince. Raimi is clearly having a heck of a time.
“It’s a rite of passage to have Sam Raimi throw blood in your face,” says McAdams.
In its own warped way, Send Help even functions as a form of escapism—by the time it’s over,
you may find yourself wanting to hit that Out of Office and head for island vibes.
An immediate classic as far as survival horror thrillers go, Send Help is proof that Raimi hasn’t lost his
touch—and that McAdams remains one of our most compelling, underrated actors.
Equal parts crowd-pleaser and psychological pressure cooker, Send Help is a delirious ride that proves
Raimi still knows exactly how to twist a knife. | ★★★★
Comments
We love hearing from you. or to leave a comment.