Send Help is a Deliciously Dark, Twisted Throwback Thriller
Image Courtesy of Twentieth Century Studios
By Luis Zonenberg
‘Tis the season for romance, and there’s no better way to spend it than cuddling up with a good horror flick. This is probably what legendary director Sam Raimi had in mind when he signed on to direct the survival thriller, Send Help! The film serves as a neat little throwback to earlier survival films, with Raimi injecting his own unique sense of humor and campy thrills. Especially considering the high praise the film has received from critics, I figured it was worth checking out to see if it’s worth all the hype.
The story focuses on corporate strategist Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) yearning for a long-deserved promotion at the office. Unfortunately, the newly appointed CEO, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), instead gives it to one of his old college buddies, Donovan (Xavier Samuel). After confronting Preston about this, he invites her to join him and his team as they fly to Bangkok for an important meeting. Things turn for the worse, though, when the plane malfunctions, causing Preston and Liddle to wash ashore on an unknown island in Thailand.
With Preston suffering an intense leg injury, Liddle nurses him back to health as she adapts to the harsh jungle life. Over the next few days, Liddle learns how to hunt animals and build shelter out of nothing but leaves and branches. Unfortunately for Preston, though, the power dynamic has shifted, and he must rely on Liddle if he wants to survive. Fearing he might be stranded with her forever, Preston concocts his own plan of escape as he struggles to adapt to the shifting pendulum of power.
The story’s campy charms and dark sense beautifully work in tandem to ensure the film remains as enjoyable as possible! While the beginning may drag due to its awkward kitsch, the film truly gets rolling once the two reach the island, and the fun never stops from there. From the cheesy jump scares to the hilariously excessive gore, Raimi executes a wildly entertaining rollercoaster of a film! It even feels reminiscent of his earlier works, such as Drag Me to Hell.
The performances overall were a little hammy, but thankfully, Rachel McAdams’ charm and wry sense of humor more than pulls its weight. She proves herself once more to be an incredibly compelling lead, walking a tight rope of camp and sincerity with gusto! Dylan O’Brien also has a lot of fun portraying the douchey CEO, Bradley Preston. While perhaps not as delightfully unhinged as McAdams’, he brings a unique sense of humor that wonderfully contrasts her character, making the friction between the two all the more believable.
The cinematography wonderfully showcases the absurdity of Raimi’s style, providing all sorts of creative angles to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. It incorporates various uses of extreme close-ups that bear Raimi’s trademark for camp and horror, providing a unique visual style only Raimi could have concocted. The ridiculous nature of the photography helps amp up both the tension and the comedy, making it feel all the more unhinged by the time the credits roll.
Perhaps the big weak spot here might be the VFX, since it looked rather cheap and poorly rendered. Granted, this might have been a stylistic choice given the absurd nature of the film, but if anything, it moreso took me out of the film as opposed to amplifying the absurdity of it. From the flat CGI backgrounds to the cartoonishly animated wild boars, the film had a plethora of cheap VFX, which really detracted from the film’s enjoyability.
With all that said, though, the film proves to be a deliciously sick romp that doubles as a cute throwback to not just survival thrillers but the campy horror flicks Raimi notably made beforehand. The movie’s twisted sense of humor gets a lot of mileage thanks to the cast’s over-the-top performances, providing a good amount of laughs between all the carnage and mayhem that ensues. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien play a deadly game of cat and mouse in Send Help, with Raimi’s trademark sense of humor and style ensuring it remains fun from beginning to end.
Send Help is now playing in theaters.
Rating: ★★★★☆
