Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, and Dennis Haysbert
Movie Length: 1 hour 53 minutes
We tread into dangerous territory with this review; almost as treacherous as the island that stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien’s characters encounter when they’re involved in a plane crash. To share too much of the plot of this film would be a disservice to not only writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, but to the entirety of the viewing audience. For this reason, I’m going to remain
intentionally vague.
McAdams portrays Linda Liddle, a socially awkward numbers whiz who’s been grinding away for seven years, eventually promised a VP position by the owner of the company. Unfortunately, the owner dies and nepotism permits the son to assume the role. He subsequently casts negative judgment upon Liddle and disregards his father’s wishes and instead of promoting Liddle to the VP position,
he gives the role to his unqualified golfing buddy.
After confronting her new boss, she takes a few cheap shots at him, culminating in her not getting the position due in part due to her lack of being able to fit in. However, her prowess with numbers is an asset and an upcoming trip to Bangkok by the management team to finalize some important business earns her a seat on the corporate jet.
The plane goes down and the only survivors happen to be Liddle and her boss, Bradley Preston, portrayed expertly by Dylan O’Brien. You will perhaps never encounter a more unflattering douchebag than this gentleman.
Her boss is injured and after some brief internal struggle, Liddle sees to his injuries and begins to make the most of their situation. They’re on a tropical island, just like the one Liddle idolizes on the show ‘Survivor.’ In fact, she has a collection of books and manuals in her home that showcase someone who has a singular hobby; to become a contestant on the show.
This know-how helps them not only survive but thrive. While the boss struggles with the fact that he’s been disempowered and thrust into one of the most unsavory situations he can imagine, Liddle may be enjoying herself just a little too much.
What is to follow will remain for you, the viewing audience to uncover. It’s great fun and a journey that I believe will leave you thoroughly satisfied. Seeing Raimi directing genre film is a real treat and there are several ‘Raimi moments’ that will appease the longtime fans of his work.
Mike’s rating: Send Help is quite the achievement, earning 8.75/10.
Send Help is now in theaters.
Are you going to see the movie? Have you already? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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