Send Help – Review

The friendly yet awkward Linda Liddle (McAdams) works as an accounting and data strategist for a large financial planning company. She delivers A+ work and management reports, which others take credit for and try to keep her out of attending meetings. Linda tries to chit-chat with coworkers and build rapport, knowing she has been there for a multitude of years and is due a large promotion… someday.

As a CEO retired and replaced himself with his son, Bradley Preston (O’Brien), Linda clumsily introduces herself to him, and fumbles through some weird jokes and inept interactions. It is pretty easy to come across this way in a corporate world, especially when one feels a bit exacerbated by just trying to fit in and be nice, so Linda is mostly sympathetic. Too bad Bradley does not see her this way, and is mostly turned off by most everything about her, which is a similar story to plenty of Linda’s co-workers.

As Linda sees her promotion go to a newly hired employee Donovan Murphy (Samuel), she is a bit flustered. Donovan happens to be a fraternity brother of Bradley’s, and this in got him the big bump up. How nice for him. This puts Linda back into a bit of a tailspin, and she feels a bit slighted. After blasting into Bradley’s office, she nets herself an invite to an upcoming business conference, especially if she can ‘crack Appendix D’ which has been giving the executives trouble.

As Linda and a few top execs hit a private jet to fly over the ocean to Bangkok, they find her online presence which is dedicated to Survivor audition tapes, and general social media videos about staying alive in the jungles or remote locations with minimal resources. So, when the plane hits trouble, and Linda and Bradley wind up in a deserted island scenario, how will the antagonistic relationship play out?

Send Help is a wild thriller with some bonkers moments, which typically keeps the viewer guessing at how things will really go. It is both fun and macabre, full of triumphs and shocks, as characters scramble for survival. The script is pretty good and has some dark comedy and a touch of satire. The director is great and Raimi again brings his skill behind the camera to this film, which fits his type of film style. Acting is also top notch, as the minimal cast shine despite a somewhat basic premise. McAdams and O’Brien are fully believable and infuse tons of life into their characters. There are all sorts of nice nuances and traits hidden in these two, and Linda and Bradley evolve as the situations shift. The overall quality is strong and this is a good time for dark thriller seekers.