I’d like to say that Sam Raimi’s Send Help isn’t your average thriller, but truthfully what’s comforting about the movie used to be a lot more ubiquitous in Hollywood. A mid-budget dark comedy featuring committed stars willing to debase themselves for our entertainment. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien make for a mismatched pairing with a unique chemistry. She’s Linda, a financial strategist, and he’s her newly promoted boss, Bradley, by means of nepotism. Bradley is beaming with immature frat boy energy, as his disdain for her homely appearance/eating habits/dorkish behavior eventually teters into bullying. But a fortuitous work trip turns into a disaster, leaving the odd pairing stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps an opportunity for their work dynamic to be flipped completely upside down.
Despite the absurdity of the premise, Send Help is a low maintenance, fun, and very watchable thriller that doesn’t ask too much of its audience as a barrier to entry. In fact, this is a movie that practically loves its audience and is more than accommodating in its visual storytelling to communicate everything you need to know at every step of the way. Much of that has to do with Raimi’s keen eye for superb blocking/framing, and his ability to make a singular object the subject of the eye. Even when this manifests in messier ways, such as Linda’s unusual eating habits, the storytelling is still engaging even if some of the visuals are a bit repulsive. Raimi returns to his collaboration with prolific cinematographer Bill Pope, and the pair create a wide canvas with striking and vividly clear visuals. Even the office setting has a calming, fun vibe amidst the tense socio-political atmosphere.
What works about the movie is that despite some of its dark subject matter, the film is geared toward making the experience a fun ride. You can even see this joy in the performances of McAdams and O’Brien, who both look like they’re having a blast, except for when they have to sell some intensely traumatic moments. How many directors could get O’Brien to exasperate “OHHH MAMA!” while his famished body chomps down on some seafood? McAdams has to vacillate between a multitude of temperaments, as much about her character isn’t revealed right away. But she’s really who has command over the movie, from empathetically meek to charismatic and confident, her transformation a result of a switch in power dynamics. Together the leads make a strong pair, establishing great comedic timing, with a twinge of romantic spark.
The look of the film exists as an example of how to combine the old with the new. While many of the island scenes appear as if they’re shot on location, CGI is still used to help flesh the island out when showing off more complicated shots. There’s also a particularly tense scene involving a boar, and said animal is noticeably computer generated. On one hand, using a live animal would elicit a more visceral reaction to the scene, so that does hurt the filmmaking, but on the plus side – we don’t have to wonder if any boars were harmed while filming. Despite this, Raimi does employ some timely POV shots from the boar’s perspective, a clever trick to help the scene feel more real even as it needs the assistance of VFX.
Overall, the CGI usage, while often noticeable, is usually tastefully done. Including the last shot of the film, which is a scenic vista featuring a highway hovering over a body of water – which may go down as one of the most astounding shots of the year. Digging into his Hitchcock bag, Raimi makes suspenseful use of a cliff as well as an occurrence of chekhov’s gun in order to create tense moments that challenge the viewer over exactly who we should be rooting for as the narrative progresses.
At a time where Hollywood cinema is experiencing a more uncertain era than ever, seeing an established great like Raimi still churning out engaging genre fare is a welcome sight. Send Help was originally negotiated for Sony. But after the studio optioned for a streaming-only release, Raimi shopped around elsewhere in hopes of a theatrical window.
Hopefully the film’s reception will not just lead to more work for Raimi, but will influence studios to give other auteurs a shot at more mid-budget fare. So much of current Hollywood is geared toward either IP-driven properties or elaborate social media campaigns where stars have to go over the top for engagement. Sometimes all you need is a movie that’s only concerned with being a movie and selling its central story, not 12 other side ventures and marketing attempts. As the movie year rolls along, hopefully Send Help finds a 2nd life on demand, where one can stay in and enjoy some entertaining genre fare where a master shows genuine care that his audience just has a good time.
