STARRING: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien. Written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Directed by Sam Raimi. Budget $40 million. Running time 115 minutes.
In a nutshell the plot of this couldn't be simpler, socially awkward, but fantastic at her job as a strategist for some sort of financial company, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) and her horrible, entitled, arrogant and deeply bullying new boss, Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien) find themselves shipwrecked on a beautiful desert island in the Gulf of Thailand after a plane-crash. What follows is a 21st Century remake of The Admirable Crichton but far more psychological, gory, and fantastically intense. Oh, and funny, cos this is the darkest comedy I've seen in a long time.
The plot of Send Help most certainly isn't new, the idea of social status reversing due to location and situation, but in the hands of Sam Raimi it's never been this intense, gory, or as entertaining. McAdams seems to revel in her role as Liddle, who comes to life on the island using her survival skills (she's a keen a 'outdoors person', and dreams of being a contestant on Survivors), from nerdy, clumsy, and and awkward, to confident, powerful and more than capable, Linda thrives on the island and quickly becomes the person she was always meant to be. While, on the other hand, O'Brien's Bradly is a fish-out-of-water, hating every grain of sand of the beautiful island and longing to get back to his pampered corporate life, his trophy fiancee and his beloved golf courses. He hates Linda and as their dynamic changes that hatred grows stronger. However, due to an horrible injury he suffered due to the plane crash, his very survival depends on Linda.
The power dynamic see-saws as their survival fortunes ebb and flow and tensions rise leading to an exhilarating final act. With plot twists galore, a clever, witty script and some seriously game performances, this was an absolute hoot and had me wincing, yelping, and roaring with laughter, along with the audience. Indeed it's been a while since I heard an audience so invested in a film. There are many scenes which you look at through your fingers and the Sam Raimi expertly nails the landing, despite a tonal shift in the final act which threatens to sink the whole affair. It's been four years since we had a Raimi film and it's great to see him doing something small and horror based again, rather than a big budget Hollywood blockbuster.
A wonderfully gory, exciting and funny little romp and thoroughly entertained!
9/10
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