We all have that one boss who drives us insane. No matter how good a “team player” one may be, sometimes the corporate world is a good old buddy system where the most talented person will be abused, worked to death, ridiculed, and passed over a promotion time and time again (especially in the corporate world). At least once in our lives we wish we could be stranded on a deserted island with that douchebag boss armed with nothing but a knife and be able to tell them how we really feel about their “leadership” in a much deserved and vengeful way. That’s exactly what director Sam Rami delivers in his latest horror/thriller Send Help.
Corporate strategist Linda (Rachel McAdams) has paid her dues and has put in long hours holding the company together. Her boss promised her a promotion for an executive vice president position at the company, and it seems as everything she’s worked for is finally paying off. Of course, in a perfect world, she would land the promotion and begin to help implement her vision for the company to lead it to even greater heights. Unfortunately, her boss’ timely death puts a pit stop into those plans as the CEO’s son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) has now been appointed CEO and he completely reeks of chauvinistic Ivy Lead narcissism. He immediately dismisses Linda for her preppy look, her unsureness, and her eating tuna fish. Instead of Linda getting the promotion, Bradley gives the promotion to his golfing buddy who’s only worked at the company for six months and he has plans on firing her as she disgusts him. But before he can do that, he needs her skills to help with a merger in Bangkok, so he brings her on a corporate flight with a few other executives.
As they board the plane, he and the other executives are ridiculing her as if she was some low level assistant. He even discovers her Survivor audition and plays it on a laptop so he and the other executives can have a laugh at her expense. That’s when Send Help takes a drastic c-change. The plane they’re traveling on had some turbulence, and soon enough it crashes into the ocean. Linda manages to survive the crash and end up on the beach of a deserted island. Oh, and the only other person who survived the crash and ended up on the beach is a severely injured Bradley.
If you see the trailer, you see where Send Help is going. Linda is resourceful (probably from training for her audition for Survivor) and manages to be able to become resourceful regarding building a shelter, making a fire, collecting water, and finding fruit and wildlife for her and Bradley to survive off of. At first, Bradley is still in CEO mode and ordering her to do various tasks as he can barely walk, but Linda quickly changes the tables and reminds her that on this island, he’s no longer the boss and now she’s running the show. Now she has all the power, and she wields it very effectively and also very frighteningly. After killing and decapitating a boar, Linda shows Bradley who the real alpha is.
Slowly but surely, we see the tables turn. No longer is Linda weak, but incredibly capable and downright scary in how she has turned this crash into Lord of the Flies. Much like Annie in Misery, Linda cares for her new “patient” but also keeps him under her watchful yet scary eye. While the two begin to develop a friendship (and possibly a romantic relationship) for survival, as they let their guards down and reveal intimate secrets to each other. However, they both play short and long con games with each other for dominance in a cat and mouse game with each other for survival. As Send Help progresses, the audience even becomes torn as to who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist and one can develop sympathy for both Linda and Bradley as they are fighting each other and fighting for survival.
Send Help wouldn’t be a Sam Raimi film without having some of his traditional filmmaking signatures. The film perfectly blends comedy with absolute gore throughout the films. We even get his Evil Dead “monster view” from the film as someone is chased throughout the jungle. This is Sami’s first non-IP film since his sleeper hit Drag Me to Hell, and he remains a great comedic and visual storyteller when it comes to the world of horror. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Sam Rami film without an arbitrary Bruce Campbell cameo. But the film lives and dies in both McAdams and O’Brien’s performances. They both go through significant changes throughout the film. McAdams goes from “fugly” (as if she can be) office worker to a literal island badass with a hint of crazy and O’Brien goes from a-hole boss from hell to venerable and scared man-child. Both deliver exceptional performances that have the audience rooting for and against each of them as the film progresses.
Towards the final climax of Send Help the film makes a drastic change for shock value (even has one legit jump scare surrounding the madness the characters are going through) and has a Shyamalan-esque twist that feels a little unearned from a narrative perspective, but will still be pleasing for the general audiences. Bottom line: if you hate your boss and wish to cathartically torture them via proxy, Send Help will be the film for you.
Send Help is now playing in theaters.
