Anyone who’s had a job knows that office jerks are real. They come in many forms — manipulation, stealing credit, undermining others or just being egotistical are their specialties. When the office jerk is the boss, that unbridled douchebag character is unleashed with an extra dose of power.
In the directorial hands of Sam Raimi, the tables viciously turn. Arriving in theaters on Jan. 30, Send Help, starring Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle and Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston, smears the power dynamic in gruesome gore. The film hurls its two main characters into a crisis that feels like a mix of Misery, Survivor and Drag Me to Hell, with a touch of camp.
Send Help brims with Raimi’s trademark style of quirky horror, violence and humor. Writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift keep the drama, laughs and suspense coming through a story centered on the domination shift between two colleagues. The result is an entertaining movie that blends multiple genres (action, dark comedy), with twists you don’t see coming.
Linda and Brad want someone to send help.
Send Help sets the tone from the start by introducing Linda and Brad. She’s mousy, nerdy and arguably the hardest worker at the company. Linda’s been at the firm for years — in strategy and planning — and was promised a big promotion by Brad’s father before he died. I got secondhand embarrassment watching her stumble through social interactions, but her secret powers were revealed through glimpses of her apartment bookshelf. Linda lives alone with a pet bird, and her personal interests are very Survivor-coded.
Brad, the incoming CEO, is easily unlikable, with obnoxious frat-bro energy reinforced by his arrogant nepo-baby status (yes, it’s a trope, but O’Brien wears the energy well). He inherited the family business and has other plans for Linda: to exploit her talents, no promotion. Brad makes her tag along on a work trip to Bangkok with him and his crew of workplace bullies. Then, in a terrifying and funny sequence, the plane crashes.
Stranded on a remote island, Linda and Brad are the only survivors. She sets up camp like a pro, abandoning her mousy worker-bee persona. As the weeks drag on while they wait to be rescued, it becomes clear Linda is a fearless badass in the wild who can kill giant boars, build shelters, and weave hammocks and hats from palm leaves. Brad, still dedicated to being a toxic co-worker, soon finds he must either be humble or an insufferable CEO.
Rachel McAdams’ Linda goes from meek worker bee to a warrior.
Brad has a hard time being grateful, and as a punishment (or a lesson in humility), Linda leaves him on his own for a day. In a hilarious sequence, Raimi’s camerawork cleverly captures his many facial expressions as the day progresses, culminating in him going from smug to desperate. And when Linda returns, you — like Brad — are looking up at her as she looks down on him. Talk about a switch-up.
There’s a hint of Linda’s aggressive side when she goes off to hunt a boar with nothing but a handmade spear. When she finds a weapon, there’s a subtle air of psychological warfare between her and Brad.
Then, the pair starts to get along well. Linda teaches Brad some skills and shows him around the island, warning him of dangerous areas. The pacing is a little slow and repetitive after Linda and Brad hit a friendly groove, and it feels like we’re wasting time and want them to be found. However, there’s a reason for that. Linda has other plans for Brad.
Soon, this movie is less about surviving the island and more about surviving each other. At one point, Brad tries to leave. It backfires, and the ocean sends him back to shore, where Linda rescues him in a nasty vomit-filled scene that echoes — you guessed it — Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell. This earns Brad another punishment that, for viewers, delivers deliberate sounds and visuals that dial up the squeamishness.
The look on his face doesn’t sum up everything he’s feeling.
McAdams gets grimy and ferocious as Linda’s plot becomes clearer, and the once-timid Preston employee surprises even herself — shocking the audience along the way. (Maybe we’ll see Rachel McAdams, action star?) When Brad figures things out, there’s a knockdown-drag-out fight all over the jungle that’s frenzied, scary, bloody and amusing. Camera close-ups on the mutual beatdown damage may have you wincing or watching through your fingers. It’s worth the payoff.
The performances of McAdams and O’Brien build to this dramatic, deadly match. Throughout the movie, they gradually crawl from basic office pettiness into destructive versions of themselves. Don’t try to peg anyone as a hero or villain in this film, and don’t try to predict the end.
Send Help is a gory thriller that mixes horror, mystery, wit and drama. It also gives you a chance to understand that humans have different sides, and under certain conditions, you don’t know which side you’ll get — especially when you’re not in the office anymore.
