Phrasemaker

★★★★☆

It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a horror film from the critically acclaimed director Sam Raimi, most known for cult classic films like Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell, and the original Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire. So to have him come back into the genre with the film Send Help starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien is a massive deal and has already been receiving positive reviews from critics and audiences.

Linda Liddle (McAdams) is pretty much an executive puppet in a corporate world, who dedicates most of her time to work and her little bird at home, Sweetie. Her complete and utter commitment to her work makes her amazing at her job, where she’s ultimately promised a promotion to Vice President of the company by her former boss. But when he unexpectedly passes, and his son Bradley Preston (O’Brien) takes the reins, his ego and disdain for her quirky, and at times, strange character leaves that deal on the table. But he quickly shifts gears and decides to challenge her. Offering her a chance to prove herself to him, he invites her on a business trip to Bangkok to assist in closing a pending merger. 

While on their flight to Bangkok, Linda works on the document that’ll help them secure the deal, when she overhears Bradley and other colleagues making fun of her Survivor audition tape. Upset and humiliated, she deletes the file, when the plane suddenly experiences intense turbulence and crashes on a remote island somewhere in Thailand. Linda wakes up washed up on the beach and realises that the crash had left everyone else on the plane dead except for the two of them. Her wit and skills prove to be incredibly useful in their survival, leaving Bradley to rely on her completely due to his injured leg. This only causes tensions to rise between the boss and his employee as roles are reversed and as time goes on.

Getting stuck on a remote island with a boss you absolutely despise would be anyone’s nightmare. Except Raimi makes that reality even worse, turning a plot that could very well be quite simple, flipping it on its head, and dialling it up by 100; purely through the added prominent trademarks of his work that make his movies so distinguishable.

Where this truly isn’t a Raimi film without the grotesque and gory VFX elements, absurd fast paced cuts, intense zooms, and match cuts alike. Although we are missing some of the key elements to hisdirecting style, like the repeated dutch angles, the movie still feels so true to his tone that you don’t even need to know it’s directed by him to get the same feel of his earlier horror movies. 

Send Help jumps right into the action, with absolutely no dull moments despite a run time of almost two hours. It’s quick, fast paced, gory enough that you cringe in disgust (and I say that as a compliment), and so genuinely comical, that it’s just a blast to watch. Especially the dynamic between both McAdams and O’Brien, a pairing you’d probably never thought of, but works so well onscreen, mainly due to how talented they both are.

Speaking of, Rachel McAdams is putting out an award winning performance in this unconventional horror. She is so criminally underrated, and funnily enough, after years of working on groundbreaking projects, this is the movie that’s somehow earnt her, her flowers with more modern day film enthusiasts – at least through online discourse. Time and time again she only proves how talented and versatile she is as an actress through her ability to transform into whoever is thrown her way, and if people finally get to see this through Raimi’s unique lens, then that’s even better. 

She fully embodies the goody-two-shoes corporate worker, who’s consistently belittled that you can’t help but feel bad for her. So when she suddenly switches and turns borderline psychotic, you still want to root for her because she brings a sense of empathy to the character that makes her feel palpable (despite being so unhinged).

Paired with O’Brien’s stereotypical trope of an asshole boss on a power trip, the way he’s able to perfectly execute a toxic male is scary because it feels too real, but makes for a delicious dynamic between the two that often plays into a cat and mouse kind of relationship.

Raimi’s work is often divisive; some people love his eccentric choices and ability to create a comical horror, and for others, it’s just not for them. But if you are a fan, the way he’s able to balance horror and dark comedy in this movie is perfect.

There are moments in Send Help that had me laughing out loud in the cinema, and others that had me anxiously looking at the screen through my fingers. The chemistry between both McAdams and O’Brien is a match made in heaven, and for the lack of a better term, they are just so fun to watch onscreen. So much so that they’re able to lift scenes that sometimes feel a bit out of place and most importantly, aid the absolute chaotic goodness that this movie is.