But I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a movie before like Send Help. See this is a film where the director basically gives away a major plot point by just being its director. Sam Raimi has made some fantastic movies over the years, but let’s face it aside from Spider-Man we mainly know him for directing and producing movies in the horror genre – films like The Evil Dead.
So these days when you see his name attached to a film you generally expect that it is going to be a horror and that is very much a problem for Send Help. See for the first half of the film Send Help tries to hide its horror side by trying to trick the audience into believing it is a romantic comedy or a romantic drama. It wants you to believe that it is more Blue Lagoon than Lord Of The Flies but with Raimi attached I never really bought its charade and I was waiting for the film’s dark side to reveal itself.
The film itself centres around the down-trodden Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams – The Notebook) who is the numbers person for a big business. In fact she is the main reason why the business is raking in the cash. However when the owner of the business dies she suddenly finds herself with a new boss – Bradley Preston (Dylan Preston – The Maze Runner) – the son of the former owner.
Things start off badly when on his first day in the role Bradley informs Linda that she is not getting the much deserved promotion that she was promised and instead he is giving it to his best friend Donovon (Xavier Samuel – Elvis). She is not happy but still takes Bradley up on his offer on going on a business trip to Asia with the rest of the team.
The flight, however, crashes into the ocean during a storm and soon Linda finds herself the only survivor with Bradley on a deserted island. Linda, who is obsessed by the television show Survivor knows how to survive this kind of situation and Bradley clearly doesn’t. Can they put gender politics to the side and work together to survive? Or will Linda become frustrated at Bradley repeatedly telling her that she doesn’t know what to do?
Cloud of tension
But that is where the issue also lies with this film for me. This film kind of starts off like a The Devil Wears Prada kind of movie about an employee and a bad employer. However, that whole dynamic then changes when they become trapped on an island and she is suddenly the one that has all of the knowledge for them to survive. So you have a kind of him versus her game playing out. But no matter how hard the screenplay, by Damian Shannon (Friday The 13th) and Mark Swift (Baywatch), tries to play that element of the film up you know that at some stage Raimi is going to bring the horror part to the fore.
To the film’s credit though despite that it does manage to remain suspenseful throughout. There is a cloud of tension hovering over the film the whole time as you begin to wonder exactly what is going to happen but seasoned cinema fans will not be surprised when the film takes its dark turn. Having said that though the first twist is a little unexpected but the second you can see coming a mile off.
Even the turn in tone feels awkward with Send Help. It goes from a romantic drama feel to gory horror in an instant and even memorable scenes like the plane crash are not enough to make the audience forget the elements that just don’t work.
What does give the film some credibility though are the performances of McAdams and O’Brien. McAdams plays against type well here and, while normally you look for a romantic link between characters, here there is a different kind of chemistry, and anti-chemistry actually, between the characters they are portraying – and that is hatred. Both pull that off remarkably well.
McAdams has been de-prettified to play the dour Linda and she is incredibly believable in the role. Likewise O’Brien whom we are used to seeing play the hero but here is the villain, a role switch he seems to enjoy. A large chunk of this movie is a two-hander so without O’Brien and McAdams being so good in their roles this is a film that could have failed miserably – luckily they are up to the challenge of carrying this film throughout.
If you are someone that only goes to the cinema every now and then you will probably find Send Help an enjoyable ride but if you are a serious film lover you will see just how predictable this film is. McAdams and O’Brien’s performances do save the film but don’t except anything new or different from the film itself.
Send Help is currently screening in Phuket and rated 15+
3/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus.