Send Help (dir. Sam Raimi)

By: Adam Freed

Something unexpected happens about 25 minutes into Sam Raimi’s bonkers new adventure thriller Send Help.  To be more precise, something: disgusting, hilarious, repulsive, magnetic and unforgettable happens. That visceral whirlwind response is a perfect encapsulation of just how fun, edgy and chaotic Raimi (Army of Darkness, Spider-Man) allows his Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien desert island two hander to be.  While its premise is familiar, there is an attractive glow of menace cast across Send Help that makes it feel fresh and new, especially in a January that has offered very little by way of alluring theatrical releases.  McAdams (The Notebook, Mean Girls) who embodies frumpy under-appreciated office number cruncher Linda Liddle, ends up isolated in a dangerous situation with her egomaniacal nepo-baby boss Bradley Preston.  The yin and yang of their relationship and subsequent survival skills renders Send Help a memorable, disturbing and delightful time at the movies.

The secret sauce behind the success of Send Help has nothing to do with the painfully cliche framework of putting a beautiful woman in glasses and an oversized sweater to make her unnoticeable, but rather in the fabulous push/pull chemistry shared between McAdams and O’Brien (Twinless, The Maze Runner).  There is something knowingly sinister in O’Brien’s performance that makes his smarmy “born on third base” character so easy to hate, and simultaneously impossible to ignore.  O’Brien’s range as a performer, as demonstrated in Twinless (2025) allows for harness “lovable” when needed, but rather than utilize the expected, Sam Raimi coaxes Dylan O’Brien to unleash a form of egocentric mania that results in a full meal of excruciating pain, torment and regret.  O’Brien’s character, Bradley Preston, once the office superior of Linda Liddle, is somewhat taken aback to learn that Liddle is a lifelong Survivor fan and has been preparing her entire life for the unfortunate circumstances in which she, and her young boss are to find themselves.  While more conventional filmmakers may have pulled punches or attempted to soften the blow of Send Help, Sam Raimi prefers to lean into the blood and bodily fluids. 

Sure, there are plenty of plot holes and eye rolls to be uncovered on the secluded palm island of Send Help, but weeding through the mess to unearth a chaotic and explosive gem is part of the fun of experiencing a filmmaker like Sam Raimi.  It should be remembered that cult classics like The Evil Dead (1981) and Army of Darkness (1992) were far from flawless, yet came to be appreciated for their imagination and devil may care presentations.  Many decades later, the heart and soul of Raimi’s auteurist style once again runs free and the unexpected duo of Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien act as his perfect muses in tandem.  Send Help is far from perfect, yet may be the perfect panacea for the winter blues or the streaming movie malaise.

Target Score 6.5/10 - My god is it fun to watch Sam Raimi torture gifted actors.  In Send Help the talented director sets his unmistakably grim sensibilities upon Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, two perfectly apt performers set in adversarial roles.  The results are demented and unforgettable in the best possible ways.