Send Help
The calming hush of waves in the distance and the occasional bird call have been the constant assault on Bradley’s ears for the last few days he’s been stuck on this island. He watches the vast endlessness of the sea that surrounds the little bit of land he’s trapped on and dreams of being back in the office, his beautiful model of a fiance waiting for him by the door. Everything safe, easy, and in his control. He still can’t believe he washed up on the shore with the one person in the world he despises, his disgusting and eccentric employee Linda. Suddenly, a loud thump pulls him from his thoughts and he whips his head around to find the bloody head of a boar plopped next to him. The grotesque scene sends chills down his spine and horror grips every inch of his body. Linda, drenched in blood, is bent, leaning on her knees and staring at him with a wild smile and a glimmer of chaos in her eyes. Terror settles in the bottom of Bradley’s stomach as he realizes what his quiet and seemingly harmless employee is truly capable of.
Send Help is Sam Raimi’s latest horror/thriller film that takes place on an island somewhere off the coast of Thailand. Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a socially awkward, smart, and lonely woman who has worked very hard to secure a promotion for herself within the company she’s given so many years to. When Bradley (Dylan O'Brien), the newly appointed, cocky and narcissistic CEO of the company decides to give the position to someone less qualified on the reasoning that Linda doesn’t have the social abilities to do the job well, she is beside herself. Bradley becomes blatant in his dislike of Linda, taking every chance to passively bully and belittle her. Determined to overcome this and prove herself, she agrees to go on a trip to Thailand for a merger deal. On the plane ride there however, there is a horridly graphic plane crash, leaving Bradley and Linda as the only survivors. Washed up and stuck together on this secluded island, the two must work together to survive. As secrets are spilled and trippy, sadistic mind games are played, these two characters struggle to understand just who they have been stranded with.
Sam Raimi pursues Send Help with his well known stylized way of filmmaking that has carried across most of his projects, especially those of the horror genre like The Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell. With uncomfortably close up shots to dramatize the senses and the overly, if not almost comical, displays of grotesque violence, Raimi doesn’t disappoint. The film is not for those who are squeamish to gushes of blood and borderline psychedelic warfare.
Rachel McAdams's performance of Linda, the social outcast and intense survivalist, is certainly refreshing. Compared to her well known parts in romantic dramas or comedies like The Notebook and Mean Girls, seeing her display such an unhinged character expands on her already well developed talents. Dylan O'Brien playing Bradley, the sleazy tool of a new boss, has accomplished the same effect. Known for his boyish and compassionate roles from Teen Wolf to The Maze Runner trilogy, seeing him play such a drastic difference in character only made his abilities shine brighter. The pair deliver an intense chemistry between two clashing people, playing twisted games in an attempt to find at what point the other will submit. And in the end, you may be surprised who you end up rooting for.
In true thriller and horror fashion, this film explores the grippingly terrifying idea of what a person might be capable of when there are no rules to play by. When the social status and structure of day to day lives are stripped away, what is the true nature of someone? What might their actual intentions be? Send Help playfully tips the scales back and forth, unearthing both character’s honest human nature.
- Sierra Branson
Staff Writer