About the film (courtesy of 20th Century Studios):
Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s an unsettling, darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
Sam Raimi is a maestro of the macabre. Whether he’s making trees come alive in Evil Dead (1981) or turning a parking garage into a nightmare in Drag Me to Hell (2009), you usually know you’re in for a visceral, stylized treat. Being a huge fan of Raimi’s previous works like the Evil Dead franchise, the aforementioned Drag Me to Hell (2009), and even Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), that some didn’t like to its stark tonal shift, I was eager for this new effort. But with his latest survivalist thriller, Send Help, the only person screaming for a rescue is the audience.
After two grueling hours of Send Help, I didn’t feel entertained—I felt like a survivor. And unlike the characters on screen, I’m not sure I’m happy I made it out to tell the tale. On paper, the ingredients look promising. Sam Raimi, “The King of Camp Horror” directing. Rachel McAdams provides a good portrayal of Linda, who is absolutely delusional and batshit crazy. Dylan O’Brien’s character, Bradley is very easy to loathe due to his frat boy elitist behaviors. Not too shabby, right?
Wrong! The problem? Raimi’s signature style, which usually feels like a shot of adrenaline, here feels like a coat of glossy paint on a rotting fence. Send Help has a plot that is a minefield of “convenient” coincidences and lazy writing that treats the audience like they’ve never seen a twist before. By the time we reach the finale, it’s not just predictable—it’s a relief that it’s finally over. If the waters surrounding the island were as shallow as the plot, they could have just walked home…
While McAdams commits fully to her role as the delusional Linda, and O’Brien succeeds in making Bradley a character you’ll love to loathe, they are trapped in a script that refuses to give them depth. The characters in Send Help are so aggressively stereotypical that it feels like an insult to the viewer’s intelligence. We are served cardboard cutouts instead of complex humans, making it impossible to care who survives the ordeal.
Send Help tries to lean into its R-rating with flashes of humor and gore, but it lacks the soul and sustainability that made Raimi’s previous work iconic. It’s a survival thriller that fails to sustain interest for its own runtime. And oh, by the way, were you aware that Dennis Haysbert and Raimi’s BFF, Bruce Campbell, are a couple big names also featured in this film? No worries, their talents are not really called upon for anything impactful…
When Send Help hits theaters on Friday, January 30th, don’t expect a search party to come looking for it once it inevitably vanishes from the box office. My advice? Save your money, stay on dry land, and keep far away from this boat anchor.
