Of course, we begrudge directors if, after their first, usually modestly budgeted (independent) hits, they take the opportunity to switch to the more financially lucrative blockbuster business. Especially when they – like “Dance of the Devils” mastermind Sam Raimi – deliver such magnificent superhero spectacles as the Marvel masterpiece “Spider-Man 2” in their new role. Nevertheless, we were incredibly happy back then when Raimi inserted the hellish trip “Drag Me To Hell” between his “Spider-Man” trilogy and the 215 million dollar production “The Fantastic World of Oz”, which was initially hugely underestimated but has now deservedly become a cult insider tip.
The thing is: “Drag Me To Hell” was 17 years ago now! In the meantime, Raimi may have contributed the most horror-like MCU entry to date with “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” but of course that’s not what his fans are hoping for from him. But now the time has finally come: “Send Help” is not really a horror film, but a playful, drunken and blatantly bloody survival thriller satire – but the perverted Robinsonade has exactly the thieving, mischievous, dark black humor for which Raimi is famous thanks to films like “The Killer Academy”, “Darkman” or “Army of Darkness”.
Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) finally gets the credit for spending her evenings watching survival reality shows in front of the television.
Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) may hide smelly tuna fish sandwiches in her desk drawer, but she is still absolutely irreplaceable at her company, Preston Strategic Solutions. After the death of her long-time boss, however, his golf-loving son Bradley (Dylan O'Brien) takes over the business – and he immediately forms a boys club around himself from his old alma mater buddies, while he would like to get rid of the hard-working but socially awkward survival superfan employee with the cat lady look as quickly as possible. Linda does all the work, but others take the credit.
But then the private jet crashes on a business flight. Stranded on a deserted island, Linda and Bradley are the only survivors. Thanks to her enthusiasm for survival formats, she manages to provide water, food and a makeshift shelter. Bradley, on the other hand, acts like the boss even with an injured leg – at least until Linda makes it clear to him that he is no longer in charge and that he should behave respectfully. At some point, Linda likes the upside-down distribution of power so much that she begins to question whether she even wants to be saved anymore…
A wild pig to fall in love with
One could now turn to film history. After all, “Send Help” is, in a sense, an update of Lina Wertmüller’s controversial cult masterpiece “Rapt by an unusual fate in the azure sea in August” (1974), in which a humiliated sailor on a deserted island gains dominance over a spoiled anti-communist (and which was later adapted into the masterpiece “Stormische Liebe” by Guy Ritchie and his then-wife Madonna). One could just as easily point to the political level: toxic masculinity, career-enhancing rounds of golf, boss lady taking power. But honestly: Even if all of that is actually included, “Send Help” is ultimately just big, nasty fun!
This starts right from the crash, when Linda's asshole colleague, who was sucked out of the plane, gets stuck with his show-off tie and hits the window from the outside until all that's left of his super-slimy hipster visage is a bloody pulp. It continues with an insane wild boar who doesn't necessarily look “real” by modern CGI standards, but whose duel with the spear-fighting Linda is so over the top that a round of applause is immediately due. This isn't about educating Boss Bradley so that everyone can go home happy in the end. Instead, Raimi's escalation spiral continues without any net or false bottom, but with immense pleasure.
Bradley is a total ass as a boss – and Dylan O'Brien is clearly keen to let someone like him out…
The director found two stars who are 100 percent on board. Rachel McAdams (“Girls Club”) shows herself at her most unpretentious as a greasy-haired, psychopathic gray mouse who still has half a can of tuna stuck to his chin, but still has his fingers crossed. Basically the Robinson Crusoe version of Annie Wilkes, for whose portrayal Kathy Bates won an Oscar at the time. But in contrast to the Stephen King adaptation “Misery”, “Send Help” is not an “upscale” genre film, but rather a consistent, straightforward nastiness – so there will probably be no shower of awards, but there will be more humorous rudeness.
This usually has to be taken by Dylan O'Brien, who – a little like Robert Pattinson – emancipates himself more and more from his “Maze Runner” YA beginnings (most recently with a double role as twins in the magnificent “Twinless”). O'Brien clearly has fun letting the arrogant, instinctively insensitive, snotty boss outplay him. And yet, at least the male part of the audience will not be able to help but sympathize with him in the film's most agonizing scene (while staring through their fingers at the screen with a pained face). Towards the end, “Send Help” pushes it a bit too far, as it wouldn’t necessarily have needed the full 112 minutes of running time. But hey, when Sam Raimi finally does what he's most in the mood for after 17 years, then it's only logical that he'll let off steam on the island to the max.
Conclusion: There is more fun on this lonely island than on the Ballermann – at least if you don't just get your humor ice cold, but also dark black and extra nasty!