FORGET HR-approved team-building exercises and trust falls; oddball Hollywood director Sam Raimi has a much more visceral way to resolve workplace conflict.
In ‘Send Help’, the legendary maestro of mayhem returns to his roots, proving that while you can take the director out of the cabin in the woods, you can’t take the “splatstick” out of the director.
The film serves as a brutal reminder that the most dangerous animal in the jungle isn’t the one with claws, but the corporate strategist who’s finally had enough of your emails.
Rachel McAdams, in a career-pivoting performance that is as sharp as a jagged piece of fuselage, plays Linda — the mousy employee who survives a plane crash only to find herself stranded with her insufferable boss, Bradley (played with pitch-perfect douchebaggery by Dylan O’Brien).
Raimi doesn’t just direct this survival thriller; he attacks it. Reunited with cinematographer Bill Pope and composer Danny Elfman, the film feels like a high-voltage reunion tour of the “Big Three”.
Expect the camera to lunge at the characters with the same ferocity as the island’s local wildlife.
There are crash zooms that practically give you whiplash and PoV shots that turn a simple hunt for food into a terrifying, kinetic ballet.
McAdams is a revelation here. She sheds her “Hollywood sweetheart” image to embrace a character that is equal parts MacGyver and Regina George on a warpath.
Her transformation from an undervalued “numbers whiz” to a formidable island queen is both thrilling and unsettling.
Opposite her, O’Brien manages to make an entitled corporate climber oddly compelling, serving as the perfect foil for Linda’s slow-simmering resentment.
While the film’s final act might lean a little too heavily on traditional survival tropes, the journey there is an absolute riot of gore and dark humour.
Whether it’s the visceral horror of a bone-snapping crash or the “cringe-comedy” of an awkward office interaction, ‘Send Help’ keeps the adrenaline pumping at a steady, heart-pounding clip.
If you’re looking for a cinematic experience that is as cleverly scripted as it is gleefully cruel, then this is the SOS you’ve been waiting for. It’s a wild, uncomfortable, and utterly spectacular ride that proves Sam Raimi is still the undisputed king of the “ghoulishly fun” blockbuster.
Just don’t expect to look at your boss the same way on Monday morning.
NOW SHOWING
SEND HELP
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien
Duration: 113 mins
Classification: 18
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
