Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Damian Shannon and Mark Swift
Run Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

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With so many characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s no surprise that certain fans consider some of them to have been wasted. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver, Natalie Portman’s Mighty Thor and Frank Grillo’s Crossbones are only a few examples of this squandered potential, and it’s not just the fans that think so. Talking to Total Film, director Sam Raimi admitted that he felt Rachel McAdams was “underutilised” in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Promising himself to work with her again, she now finds herself leading his latest film, psychological horror-comedy, Send Help.

Raimi’s film follows a capable but under-appreciated corporate employee, Linda (Rachel McAdams), who’s eagerly anticipating a big promotion that was previously promised to her. However, after the company’s existing CEO passes away he’s replaced by his obnoxious and inexperienced son, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), who takes an instant disliking to Linda. In an effort to prove herself to her new boss, Linda accompanies Bradley on a business trip to Bangkok, but when their plane encounters severe turbulence and crashes into the Gulf of Thailand, the pair are left stranded on a remote island together.

Send Help is such an easy sell. Its lively concept, that lands somewhere between Misery (1990) and Cast Away (2000), is already a lot of fun and then to be fronted by two stars as likeable and talented as McAdams and O’Brien makes it even more appealing. With Raimi at the helm too, it comes with the added guarantee of blood, guts and gore. It’s set-up to be an absolute B-movie banger, but bizarrely, it never quite achieves this.

The promise of this twisted plot keeps the drawn out first act engaging, despite it taking far too long to get the characters to the island. It also silences any reservations about the less than impressive CGI used to help create the plane crash sequence. It’s all excusable in an effort to prepare Send Help for its predominant premise, yet with the eventual arrival onto the island, these same issues begin to reoccur.

Several zoom-out shots reveal not only the vast scale of the characters’ new surroundings, but also the ugly nature of the VFX used to create them. This is especially disappointing considering Raimi’s history and renown for practical effects. Thankfully, the on-location shoot in Thailand does ground the remainder of the film in a more authentic sense of place, but it’s always at odds with these less convincing bursts of CGI action and horror that immediately take you out of the illusion.

This inconsistent visual landscape is reflected in the film’s messy narrative too. As despite a couple of standout scenes – the boar and the balls (if you know you know) – Send Help largely meanders through its excessive runtime, rather than getting to the point. The back and forth between McAdams and O’Brien is fun to begin with, but their frenemy style relationship lacks the focus to keep things really intense, instead fluctuating between comedy and horror far too flippantly.

It doesn’t help that this shift in dynamic, seeing Linda suddenly gain power and respect due to her wealth of survival skills, feels so familiar. Ruben Östlund’s Best Picture nominee, Triangle of Sadness (2022) has an incredibly similar premise and depicts a comparable change in character relationships too. The similarities are so striking that in places Send Help starts to feel like one of those American remakes that is rushed into production to try and replicate the recent success of a film from elsewhere in the world. In most cases these end up being nothing more than hollow imitations with the original remaining superior, and here is no different with Send Help failing to shape up to Triangle of Sadness.

However, if audiences are unfamiliar with Östlund’s film, the unoriginality on display here perhaps won’t be a problem. After all the two central performances are so great that they provide a pretty good distraction from the scripts several many shortcomings, almost convincing you that the film is too at their level. McAdams is formidable as Linda, delighting in her newfound dominance over her boss while also deploying several power plays that remind him she’s seriously not to be messed with.

Opposite her, O’Brien showboats as her inferior and incompetent island mate, Bradley. He’s got an arrogant corporate-bro cackle that’s as amusing as it is grating and delivers some truly expert physical acting, often relying on the nuances of his facial expressions alone. They’re a real riot together, but ultimately they’re the life raft for a film that’s otherwise up a creek without a paddle – and they can only take it so far.

Maybe “Send Help” isn’t just the title, but a genuine plea for assistance too. As while Raimi reaps the benefits of his terrific twosome he struggles to find that same brilliance beyond their performances. Their committed character work may well be enough for some but paired with poor pacing, unoriginal ideas and disappointing effects sees Send Help and Raimi remain, for the most part, marooned in mediocrity.

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Star Rating: ★ ★

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