Send Help - Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

SAM Raimi returns to the kind of grotesque fun he enjoyed with the likes of Drag Me To Hell in horror-comedy Send Help.

An office satire written by Damian Shannon, the film actually takes place mostly on a desert island in the aftermath of a planet crash, as two lone survivors - one, a put-upon employee, the other a spoilt brat of a boss - try to co-exist as the relationship dynamics are turned on their head.

Rachel McAdams plays nerdy Linda Liddle, a single woman living alone with a caged bird, who is good at her job but overlooked for overdue promotion because of her social awkwardness. Worse still, she’s frequently the butt of office jokes - especially once one of her male employees happens upon an embarrassing audition tape for the Survivor reality show.

Her primary tormentor, however, is Dylan O’Brien’s odious [and sexist] new CEO Bradley Preston, who is determined to use her research expertise for one last piece of self-gain on a trip to Thailand, before unceremoniously dumping her from the company.

Mid-flight, however, their plane hits turbulence and crashes into the sea, with all of Preston’s male chauvinist colleagues killed - and Preston himself suffering a leg injury that greatly incapacitates him once he washes up on the island with Linda.

It’s here that her survival skills take effect, whether in building shacks to protect them from the elements, or food gathering to stave off malnutrition.

But she also enjoys the change in fortune - and becomes increasingly reluctant to find any form of rescue, while revelling in Preston’s neediness and pathetic attempts to look after himself.

Their subsequent attempts to outwit each other and maintain the upper hand make for delightfully sinister, and frequently quite bloody viewing, thereby allowing Raimi room to indulge in some of his wilder instincts.

An early scene involving McAdams slaying a wild boar sets the tone, as she is quite literally covered in blood, while the latter duels between the two of them are just as OTT and grisly.

But it’s by embracing the film’s wildness that Raimi also gets to indulge in some knowing in-jokes and cheeky CV references. Fans of his early work on the original Evil Dead will delight in one or two visual references, while the mix of dark comedy and cruel horror comes right out of the Drag Me To Hell playbook. There’s even a smart visual reference to his Spider-Man films.

But Raimi also tips his hat to other films in the genre, including CastAway and Lost, as well as Lord of the Flies and even Misery. It’s fun to pick out the references.

Likewise, there’s a macabre pleasure in seeing how Raimi turns Send Help into something of a commentary on toxic workplaces and misogynistic bosses; with McAdams’ downtrodden Linda finding her inner warrior and relishing in her dominance over Preston. For most of the time, he deserves everything coming his way.

Admittedly, Raimi muddies the waters late on by having Linda go full batshit crazy, culminating in a final confrontation between the two that may find some viewers with divided loyalties. But even though this is slightly disappointing, Raimi still manages to deliver a satisfying final scene.

There’s also a nice little twist in store to wrong foot viewers, which adds a nice touch.

The performances, too, have the perfect measure of the material. McAdams is having a blast embracing her inner survivalist, while O’Brien is suitably odious when he needs to be yet also pathetic, needy, scheming and arrogant.

Both also manage to toy with viewers’ sympathies at certain points, especially when threatening to take their rivalry too far, with Raimi also tossing in some set piece moments that will have you gasping in a “surely not!” kind of way.

Put together, this is Raimi at his best: keeping viewers alert, engaged and always guessing, while tossing in some sharp interplay and even some biting social commentary. It’s a blast.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 1hr 53mins