Rating:
Summary: A fun ride that successfully blends dark humour, survival drama, a surprise twist, and Sam Raimi's style of over-the-top horror.
The trailers for Send Help promised a revenge-driven survival story with some over-the-top violence and a touch of "Misery", but as crazy as the trailers were, they have really undersold what a wild ride "Send Help" is.
What starts as a survival drama (think "Survivor: The Movie" - and the show does feature as a plot element too), soon descends into something else entirely - the over-the-top violence, dark (often grotesque) humour mixed with slapstick comedy, and a few jump scares thrown in for good measure (or just for the heck of it). If you know director Sam Raimi's work, then none of this should come as a surprise to you - his signature is all over this film, and it is, in the opinion of this reviewer, one of his best films of recent years.
The writing is particularly sharp, and even the many one-dimensional characters are memorable, even if most of the screentime is shared between the two co-stars, Rachel McAdams as the underestimated and taken-for-granted employee Linda Liddle (who definitely doesn't work in accounting), and Dylan O'Brien as the smug, obnoxious new boss Bradley Preston. Bradley's eagerness to promote "one of the boys" over the much more capable Linda, coupled with some casual workplace bullying of the socially awkward Linda, eventually leads to a fateful plane fight that turns into a plane crash. The two are now stuck on an island, and the "Survivor" obsessed Linda finally gets to utilise her learned skills, and the power reversal is now complete.
With McAdams and O'Brien having to do all the heavy lifting, it's then reassuring to find some notable character depth given to the two leads. The depths help to prevent a clear distinction between the protagonist and the antagonist, which would have made the movie much less satisfying in my opinion - I had a great time in the theatre, sat there wondering how they were going to end this movie, and how they were going to justify who would turn out to be the winner in the end. If there is a winner!
Like many, I was unsure of the McAdams casting as an unattractive, middle-aged loner lacking even the most basic social graces - but she made it work, and the fact that she seems to get more attractive as she spends more time on the deserted island does make sense too from a plotting point of view - she has found herself a paradise, a place where she calls the shots and her skills gained from being a Survivor superfan is of great use. The same can't be said of Bradley, and Dylan O'Brien plays him brilliantly, but without just enough vulnerability to suggest there is a decent human being in there, somewhere.
I found "Send Help" a whole lot of fun. Those not aware of Sam Raimi's signature touches might find the experience a jarring one, but at the end, might become a fan of his unconventional storytelling.
"Send Help" is in Australian cinemas on 29 January 2026. Australian streaming release date: TBA
