‘Send Help’ review: Take a trip to the island

Send Help steers a thrilling tale out of familiar waters thanks to Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien’s dynamic chemistry.

One island. A struggle for survival. Two bickering colleagues are fighting over a power imbalance. Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead), is a workplace dark comedy that plays with our expectations of deserted island horror. Lower your sandcastle walls if you’re anticipating this to be only a psychological island thriller in the vein of Lord of the Flies. Instead, Send Help’s bloody imagery hides a deeper layer of power struggles, strong chemistry, and dare we say, a wave of humor.

From a plot standpoint, Send Help’s story isn’t reinventing the genre. In fact, you might find it a tad familiar to other deserted island narratives. Written by Mark Swift & Damian Shannon (Freddy vs. Jason), Send Help focuses on Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), an awkward corporate strategist who gets washed ashore on an abandoned island with her monster boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien). As the pair survives on the island, tensions arise as they battle for control and plot different paths for their futures.

This season on Survivor.

Send Help is a tale of workplace opposites, combining two differing personalities in one location. The self-absorbed jerk and the meek people-pleaser. The rich boss and the struggling employee climbing the corporate ladder. Naturally, their journey experiences the push and pull of adjusting to their new locale. If you’ve seen one opposites movie before, you have an understanding of where the plot will go.

The same goes for the “trapped on a deserted island” trope itself. Without giving any spoilers away, Send Help charts a safe narrative. You’ll more than likely be able to predict key plot points and the big twists of the film. This familiarity doesn’t ruin the fun, but it doesn’t push itself further than what you anticipate the story to be.

Personalities clash.

The breakout element of Send Help, on the other hand, is Linda and Bradley’s strong chemistry. Send Help succeeds thanks to the polarizing traits of the lead roles and their brewing conflict. McAdams and O’Brien fully embrace their character qualities, bringing these two roles to life. You feel as the pair’s relationship changes throughout the ordeal, from its friendly highs to its intense lows. Both McAdams and O’Brien bring that energy to the screen, adding nuance and roller coaster tension to the story.

O’Brien’s turn as the scumbag boss paints a pretty picture of a love-to-hate villain. Even at his most redeeming moments, Send Help reminds you that this isn’t a character to cheer on. And believe us, the movie reminds you often! Bradley is a polarizing character – someone whose core qualities are hard to forget, even outside of their element.

McAdams is having the the time of her life with Linda’s transformation arc. From meek employee to confident survivalist, Linda’s journey is one of growth and empowerment. McAdams shines in channeling the different stages of her character’s change, while still exuding the mystery. There’s something off about Linda that you can’t quite trust, and with the shift of power roles, that mystery becomes more present. Together, both create an interesting dynamic that injects each scene with fun and excitement.

The humor in the horror.

Through this lightness, Send Help successfully pulls the wool over our eyes. You’d expect the film to be an intense horror tale or psychological thriller, one in which the island’s survival rips their minds apart. In certain cases, the film channels that expectation. But it’s in the surprising tonal shifts that make Send Help feel refreshing and different, moving away from the expected safety.

Send Help is more like a dark comedy rather than a horror or thriller. Grounded realism is exchanged for a sprinkling of exaggeration, infusing dark humor to heighten the action and chemistry. Linda’s workplace isn’t just toxic; it’s a suffocating place of corporate politics and exclusion. Bradley makes obvious bone-headed mistakes that would’ve killed him anywhere else. And the conflict between them veers into sarcasm and playful passive aggression, bouncing between power struggles and a rom-com parody. Send Help is fun, and at times, it is funny.

The bottom line.

Send Help’s tale of “being stuck on a deserted island” isn’t changing the game. The familiarity of its plot brings you comfort with a narrative you’ve seen. However, there’s more to the picture that wins you over. McAdams and O’Brien’s strong chemistry charts Send Help into an enjoyable and thrilling experience. The movie’s dark humor, while unexpected, is a wise choice that adds nuance and depth to the complex island survival. And even if you’re not rooting for these characters, you’ll still be cheering on the fun as they fight it out.

Send Help is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of 20th Century Studios. Read more articles by Justin Carreiro here.