We’ve all had that boss who didn’t earn his position with hard work. Who treats the people below him as if they were the rotted tunafish sandwich splatter stuck top the outside of the garbage can. Who has the equally reprehensible work friends who mock those around them. You’ve been there. I’ve been there. And watching this boss get what they deserve when it does rarely happen offers a bit of quiet revelry to those of us who suffered.
Sam Raimi’s Send Help follows Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) who has been promised a promotion to VP by the President of the financial company she works at. Problem is, the President has died and his son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) has taken over the company and gifts the VP spot to his friend Donavon, a man who took credit for much of Linda’s work. They all board a private plane to Bangkok where Donavan shows the Survivor application video Linda had made in an attempt to get on the show. After Linda takes this mockery, the plane crashes into the ocean leaving only Bradley and Linda as the survivors on a uninhabited island. Both characters vie for control but it is Linda’s survival skills that force Bradley to treat her with more respect, even if its fake.
This film is delightfully mean at every turn. It is equal parts Triangle of Sadness and Mean Girls if Regina George worked in corporate America and was thrown into a cutthroat season of Survivor. Sam Raimi’s trademark gore and jump scares add an extra level of tension as the two characters try to outwit each other. Bradley berates Linda for not getting them rescued sooner so Linda leaves him alone to starve on the beach until he is willing to do better. Linda sees a boat that could have rescued them but chooses to let it leave instead all the while Bradley secretly builds a raft so he can eventually escape after he poisons her. You can see these two plotting even as they seem to finally be getting along. Jeff Probst would be so proud.
Rachel McAdams is truly something to behold here. She somehow manages to make her character both someone to empathize with and root for but also someone who is a product of circumstance which shows the breaks in her mental stability. She finds the strength to carryon and dishes out that dish best served cold. Revenge. I could watch her do this all day. More Rachel McAdams in horror, please.
The setting is a character in itself. Between the fierce sunlight and the violent storms, the island is less of a paradise than the tropical fruits would have the viewer believe. If the weather doesn’t kill you, the angry boars and poisonous octopus will. The cliff hikes are dangerous and the company untrustworthy. Just watch the sunburn. It’s brutal.
4.5 out of 5 stars. More like this, Sam Raimi. Give us more.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
We’ve all had that boss who didn’t earn his position with hard work. Who treats the people below him as if they were the rotted tunafish sandwich splatter stuck top the outside of the garbage can. Who has the equally reprehensible work friends who mock those around them. You’ve been there. I’ve been there. And watching this boss get what they deserve when it does rarely happen offers a bit of quiet revelry to those of us who suffered.
Sam Raimi’s Send Help follows Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) who has been promised a promotion to VP by the President of the financial company she works at. Problem is, the President has died and his son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) has taken over the company and gifts the VP spot to his friend Donavon, a man who took credit for much of Linda’s work. They all board a private plane to Bangkok where Donavan shows the Survivor application video Linda had made in an attempt to get on the show. After Linda takes this mockery, the plane crashes into the ocean leaving only Bradley and Linda as the survivors on a uninhabited island. Both characters vie for control but it is Linda’s survival skills that force Bradley to treat her with more respect, even if its fake.
This film is delightfully mean at every turn. It is equal parts Triangle of Sadness and Mean Girls if Regina George worked in corporate America and was thrown into a cutthroat season of Survivor. Sam Raimi’s trademark gore and jump scares add an extra level of tension as the two characters try to outwit each other. Bradley berates Linda for not getting them rescued sooner so Linda leaves him alone to starve on the beach until he is willing to do better. Linda sees a boat that could have rescued them but chooses to let it leave instead all the while Bradley secretly builds a raft so he can eventually escape after he poisons her. You can see these two plotting even as they seem to finally be getting along. Jeff Probst would be so proud.
Rachel McAdams is truly something to behold here. She somehow manages to make her character both someone to empathize with and root for but also someone who is a product of circumstance which shows the breaks in her mental stability. She finds the strength to carryon and dishes out that dish best served cold. Revenge. I could watch her do this all day. More Rachel McAdams in horror, please.
The setting is a character in itself. Between the fierce sunlight and the violent storms, the island is less of a paradise than the tropical fruits would have the viewer believe. If the weather doesn’t kill you, the angry boars and poisonous octopus will. The cliff hikes are dangerous and the company untrustworthy. Just watch the sunburn. It’s brutal.
4.5 out of 5 stars. More like this, Sam Raimi. Give us more.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Share this: