Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are two colleagues stranded on a tropical island in ‘Send Help’. What could possibly go wrong?
Sam Raimi returns to what he does best this February, directing a castaway type survival thriller which sets his return to his horror genre. Set on a tropical island, this film takes you on o thrill ride and stars one of the best on screen duos i could think of. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as the leads, these two bounce off of each other almost perfectly for the whole 113 minute runtime and create some of the gnarliest but fun pieces of film ever.
McAdams plays Linda Liddle, someone so passionate about their work but is constantly overlooked and undermined. Her colleagues and bosses talk down to her, often taking credit for all of her hard work. Linda was promised a promotion, however when her new boss begins his new reign, Bradley Preston (O’Brien), this is taken away from her and given to someone who has only been here 6 months, ironically one of Bradley’s friends. Bradley invites Linda on their work trip, however as soon as they’re on the plane himself and his colleagues continue to make fun of her, playing a video she made about her passion to be on the reality TV show ‘Survivor’. Ironic right? Considering what’s about to happen.
Things take a turn for the worse and after a comical but almost frightening sequence of a plane crash, Linda ends up stranded with her horrible boss, Bradley, on a tropical island. What follows is an almost comical but tense game of cat and mouse between the two, Bradley remains arrogant and incompetent whilst Linda thrives in what seems like her own natural habitat. The dynamic between these two characters is the strongest part of the film, the shift in power between the two leaves you cheering for Linda as she finally rises to power, but also keeps you on the edge of your seat over what might happen next. Linda has the upper hand due to Bradleys’ leg injury and satisfyingly so! The twists and turns really keep you on the edge of your seat as their time on the island creates a strong sense of impending doom, with lots of Sam Raimi classics appearing in the form of vomit, goo and lots and lots of blood!
Overall, Send Help in my opinion, is a contender for one of the best films of the year and we’re only in February. It delivers everything you would want from a tense thriller and has just the right amount of horror to please those who love that genre. The chemistry between Rachel and Dylan just oozes, these two will go down in history as one of the most fun but gnarly on screen duos yet. Even with some odd moments with very questionable CGI, Sam Raimi very clearly had fun painting our two leads with as much blood as possible in this one. If you like blood, guts and even vomit then you’re in for a treat, he didn’t hold back with this one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4/5)
