Send Help Movie Review: Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien’s convincing performances keep Sam Raimi’s subversive thriller intact

Warning: This review may contain mild spoilers

“This place makes me wonder… Which would be worse: To live as a monster or die as a good man?”

So muses Leonardo DiCaprio’s Teddy in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island. Now, why does a Send Help movie review begin with a reference to Shutter Island? This is because Sam Raimi’s subversive blend of survival cinema, slasher cinema, slapstick and dark humour, and psychological thriller mirrors the morality of survival in Scorsese’s thriller. The films involve central characters grappling with the morality of their choices, even as they try to survive in the places (islands in both) they inhabit. Both films also deal with the central predicament: Will you do what is necessary to stay alive, even if it means stripping yourself of any remnant of humanity, or will you retain your humanity and face the inevitable end of life? Even if Send Help does not work on the levels of Scorsese’s thriller, it is still admirable how the places to which Raimi directs its intriguing plot while leaving the audience second-guessing about the motivations of its two central characters. This may not be a great film, but it is also one that knows its limitations and plays to its strengths while benefitting greatly from two strong central performances.

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien

The plot begins similarly to Raimi’s own Drag Me To Hell, although the horror here is more existential than supernatural. Much like the banker who refuses to help an old woman on the verge of financial ruin in the 2009 horror film, in Send Help, a corporate boss denies his employee her rightful promotion, one that his late father had promised her, and the decision provokes her. Dylan O'Brien’s Bradley Preston does not want Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) to take over a vacant executive position at his company simply because he does not like her. However, he pretends to give her a choice: Impress his potential client in Bangkok and prove him wrong. Meanwhile, the flight steers off its path and crashes into the ocean, leaving Bradley and Linda stranded on the island as the sole survivors of the wrecked trip. Here, we have an interesting scenario, as both Bradley and Linda have reasons to hate each other, and the film, up until a point, cleverly positions itself as a survival thriller. Bradley initially thanks Linda for saving his life and helping him survive while further attempting to exert the same type of control over her as a boss would over an executive. Linda fights back his ego, systematically stripping away his corporate seniority until they are standing on equal—and bloodied—footing. You may think that the rest of the story writes itself, but Raimi has other plans. The filmmaker infuses the plot with plenty of twists and turns, leaving the audience finding their loyalties shifting between the two protagonists. Whom do we trust more? Is Linda just as much a monster as Bradley claims himself to be? Is Bradley’s admission of his monstrous tendencies and his pledge to change himself for good a social facade stemming from the sheer desperation of his situation? Who is the bigger monster of the two?

More than just a survival thriller, Send Help forces the audience to think about its themes while entertaining them with a story that has undertones of systemic evil and intentional malice. However, it is also worth noting that you are likely to think about the film’s implications more after the screening than at the same time as you view it. This is where it differs from other masterful films that explore similar themes.

In many places, Raimi’s narrative is so fast that it barely gives you any time to ruminate on the film’s thematic elements while watching it. At one point, the characters do something so heroic, only to commit an act that takes back the same in the very next moment. The plot pivots in the film often appear to be Raimi’s afterthoughts while writing rather than something he has organically woven into the story. While it may be deliberate storytelling choices, the fact that Raimi has implemented them also means that you do not feel the same agonising passage of time on the island as the characters do. Instead, you are jumping from one plot to another. 

Then again, the film still manages to keep you invested in the story thanks to the strong performances that Raimi extracts from his lead actors. O'Brien sells the vulnerability, fear and desperation of his character that stem from being stranded on the island while ensuring that Bradley still retains the control freak element of his personality from the office. On the other hand, McAdams forces you to look through Linda and see her for who she is rather than just what she becomes. She performs in a way that avoids simple 'revenge thriller' tropes; Linda is no symbol of female agency but a flawed person facing ultimate moral decay. Both perform their roles with a great deal of poise and conviction. However, after hours of psychological sparring between their characters, Raimi eventually settles for the primal comforts of slasher mayhem. It is an odd fit for a film that bafflingly markets itself as a 3D spectacle.

Nevertheless, the comic stretches in the film are immensely enjoyable. They add flavour to a film that leaves you with a handful of thoughts, the central one of which is about the monster that lies dormant in all of us.