The number of movies I was catching up on this month is crazy, but luckily I got the chance to see an advance screening of a pretty anticipated horror title by the great Sam Raimi. Send Help centers around an underestimated accountant who is marooned on an island with her new, young, frat-boy of a boss.
With a horror twist, it reads more like a story about a woman coming into her own, trying to prove her worth to her boss, especially after being promised the executive job. But this only lasts for the first 10 minutes. And then it gets pretty gnarly when the plane crashes. Despite being an R-rated movie, we were leaning into Raimi's horror, which we are very much used to. There wasn't really much he was dealing with that was anything new or interesting, compared to his previous work in horror.
There were tones that strayed from the film's main genre, which confused me. Especially after they are marooned, both Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien's characters are instead doing a bit from the lovers-to-enemies trope, which is an understandable path to lean on to subvert expectations, but of course, that turns awry when you realize how unhinged McAdams' character really is.
McAdams is phenomenal, and downright terrifying. Everyone thinks her most spine-chilling role was Regina George, which I disagreed with when the remake came out. However, as Linda Liddle's ongoing strive to make sure that they stay on the island goes from cooky to absolute sociopathy. O'Brien is also playing to his strengths here, this time around as Bradley, the breadwinning, tech guy who took over his father's company, who comes across as the guy who gets what he wants because of his heart on his sleeve. I did love the duality of their roles, with the two characters starting out as complete opposites, only to become the worst versions of themselves, which happens to be each other.
Throughout the script, it is just these two characters laying down their guard constantly, only to realize that the other person won't change, which brings about their downfall, ultimately intertwined with their survival on this remote island. They are both selfish people in a very specific situation where they are forced to work together. These parts of the script are the things that I enjoyed.
Unfortunately, in the case of Raimi's direction, it is nothing new. He wanted to pull off his best with the idea of subversion, introducing many elements from the storyline, but nothing was particularly shocking. And for viewers who are aware of his work, his camera techniques, and his need to infuse his more iconic past work into the visuals, it almost becomes too predictable; you can't help but look for it. Raimi is somehow not evolving as a filmmaker, as he relies on recreating what worked for him once before, incorporating it into everything he has done.
It is something to think about, given that his most defining work is genre films, whether in horror with Evil Dead or in the Spider-Man trilogy, which is his absolute best, but maybe when it was in the early 2000's. He relies a lot on editing styles and is influenced by punchy lines that would have been more effective 20 years ago. Something that he struggled to incorporate when he helmed Multiverse of Madness. Despite the fact that Send Help is a guaranteed good time at the Cineplex. It is subliminally campy and fun, and the actors in the mix are doing great work. You are at the edge of your seat and somewhat stressed about where things are going, but don't expect to be blown away by anything being done here.
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