Film Review: "Send Help"
Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien are perfectly matched in this deliciously black comedy from Sam Raimi.
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Warning: Full spoilers for the film follow.
Look, I’m always going to be the audience for a film that shows how awful business dudebros are, and if that movie also happens to feature a badass performance from the one and only Rachel McAdams, then I am going to be even more down. If you throw some Sam Raimi into the mix, with the bulging eyeballs and splatter that are the director’s trademarks, then you get Send Help. I sadly missed this one while it was in theaters, but as soon as it hit streaming I knew I was going to watch it and that I was almost certainly going to love it.
Reader, I did, indeed.
McAdams portrays Linda Liddle, a corporate strategist who, despite the mockery she endures at the hands of her younger male colleagues, is undoubtedly skilled at what she does. Unfortunately, she’s passed up by a promotion by the new head of the company, the son of her old boss (played by ever-versatile Dylan O’Brien). Things go from bad to worse when, during a work trip, the two end up stranded on a distant island (but only after the rest of the crew and business entourage have been killed). On the island Linda proves to be quite adept at surviving in the wilderness, thanks in part to her obsession with Survivor and her clearly extensive training. As the film goes on, however, it’s clear O’Brien’s Bradley Preston isn’t willing to admit his former underling knows more than he does, and it’s not long before the two of them are vying with one another for survival.
Let’s make one thing clear from the jump. Rachel McAdams is nothing short of brilliant in this film. I never thought I’d see the day when McAdams of all people would appear frumpy and rather disgusting–Linda has a habit of eating very smelly and very messy food at the office–but she inhabits the role with gusto. You can just tell from the way McAdams immerses herself in the office Linda persona how much she’s enjoying this chance to be as unglamorous as possible.
It’s only once she gets to the island, though, that McAdams’ performance really sings. Once they’re both reduced to bare life–separated from all of the accoutrements of modern life–it quickly becomes clear there’s far more to Linda than originally met the eye. She’s not only a wiz when it comes to putting together a shelter; she also knows how to survive out in the middle of nowhere. And, as it turns out, there’s a bit of a monster lurking inside of Linda, too, and as the film goes on she proves there’s little she won’t do to stay in this little idyll where, at last, her competence is a source of strength rather than something to be dismissed or belittled by men who don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
For his part, O’Brien is perfectly cast as Bradley Preston, the sort of preening peacock dudebro that we’ve all seen and have probably encountered at one time or another. He’s the type of person who has absolute contempt for Linda not just because she’s a woman, but also because she refuses to adhere to his standards of beauty and female comportment. The fact that she is unquestionably smarter than everyone else in his coterie makes him even more determined to humiliate her in every way possible, from denying her a well-deserved promotion to snickering at her with his buddies. O’Brien’s boyish good looks make him perfect for the role, and he allows us to get periodic glimpses of the frightened (and rather pathetic) little boy hiding behind his arrogant facade.
Despite their mutual antagonism, and despite the fact that Preston clings to his belief in his own superiority–most notably by insisting they need to create a raft in order to escape the island–the film also has its tender moments. One night, while they’re both more than a little drunk, both Linda and Preston talk about their troubled pasts: she suffered (and survived) an abusive marriage, while he’s been largely ignored and dismissed by his father. Both O’Brien and McAdams are superb in this moment, showing the extent to which, underneath it all, they really are just two folks trying to survive in a very difficult world. It’s just unfortunate that Preston can’t see past his own blindspots. But then again, neither can Linda, and this is ultimately the key to their ultimate falling-out.
Given that this is a Sam Raimi film, there are some gnarly bits, particularly once the plane begins to crash and the various dudebros attempt to save themselves, often at the expense of each other. There’s something satisfying about watching them all start to turn on one another in their desperation to save their own lives, showing just how little their friendship means to one another when confronted with a true catastrophe. Things take an even more terrifying turn once Preston tries to escape by drugging Linda, after which she turns the tables, drugs him, and seems at first to castrate him, before revealing she was actually just killing a rat. I swear…the intensity in McAdams’ face during these scenes is truly terrifying, and I’ll admit I actually bought the ruse at first. While she may not have actually gone all the way, she nevertheless shows just how far she’s willing to go in order to maintain her own agency on this little island paradise.
And that ending? There will always be something satisfying about a movie that gives us a kickass heroine who manages to kill a dickish boss and becomes rich in the process. I was half expecting Linda to be defeated in the end, so imagine my surprise when, instead, she manages to not only kill Preston and get off the island but also becomes a wealthy celebrity. Linda gets to smash the patriarchy (literally) finally get the fame and success she probably should’ve had all along. And I mean, sure, she also commits murder at least three different times–she not only slays Preston with a golf club but also sends Preston’s fiancee and her fellow rescuer tumbling off a cliff–and sure, she’s a master at deception, but at least she owns it. And, when it comes down to it, I’m always gonna be here for a female antihero.
These days, it can sometimes seem that men like Preston have once again managed to stack all of the deck in their favor, that we’re all doomed to continue flailing around in their shadow. Send Help, however, at least gives us the chance, through Linda, to know what it would feel like to finally take back some of our own agency. When even the wealthy and the obnoxious are reduced to bare life–as Linda and Preston are–it’s not status or looks or nice shoes that will mark the difference between survivor and death. It’s the will to survive and the skills to make sure that one does so.