“Send Help” is one of the most aggravating films I’ve seen in a while. It’s another in a line of patriarchal take down social lesson films, wrapped in an unhinged plot and body horror. It makes sense it was directed by Sam Raimi — he’s known for this stuff. But aside his body horror resumé he’s also directed one of my favorite films of all time, “A Simple Plan,” which was even and controlled. And even though I don’t enjoy the “Evil Dead” films, they at least had likable characters. Amy Adams excels in this film — owns it really. However, Raimi and writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift so thoroughly erase any sympathy for her, by the end we’re rooting for the Wall Street douchebag (Dylan O’Brien) instead. Yet critic after critic remarks it’s a well-written revenge film turning the tables on toxic masculinity and I feel like I’m left out in the cold.
The plot for the film is simple. It introduces us to Linda Liddle (Amy Adams), a squirrelly, bookish employee of a up-and-coming Fortune 500 company who believes she’s due a promotion. The firm’s previous owner promised her a VP slot. However, when his son, Bradley (O’Brien), takes over after his death, he promotes an unexperienced friend of his who used to be in the same frat in college. We’ve seen the men in the company treat Linda with contempt and dismissal. She’s a numbers queen and one of the firm’s best assets, but she’s a bit of an odd duck. She dresses poorly, interrupts conversations, eats at the desk, and introduces herself to Bradley with tuna salad all over her face. She’s also super awkward. And while Bradley is a douchebag of a bro, I could see his point in passing her over for a public facing position — and I don’t feel that should have been the case.
‘Survivor’ Meets ‘Misery’
The movie then follows the plot of “Cast Away” and “Six Days and Seven Nights.” Bradley and three of his finance bro types are flying to Bangkok to close a deal. They bring Liddle along; but it’s not to include her, it’s to have his new VP (Xavier Samuel) learn the ropes so he can then ship her off to some remote location and never have to see her again. As they’re making fun of her audition tape for “Survivor” (she’s handy in survival, as will come into play later), the plane experiences turbulence. It rips open, sucking out both of Bradley’s lackeys along with it and crash lands in the ocean. Unsurprisingly, Linda washes ashore alive. It’s a short time later she sees Bradley farther down the beach, wounded and in bad condition. “Of course it would have to be you,” she mutters.
“Send Help” then concerns itself with turning into a macabre version of “Survivor,” with Linda obviously the MVP. She’s able to build a shelter, collect water and food, and even kill a wild boar with a handmade spear. Yet Raimi can’t help himself here. He basks viewers in blood and gore as the creature spews fountains of blood, puke, and bile all over Linda in a protracted sequence that practices absurdity for the sake of absurdity. Linda wanders out of the woods, throws the boar’s decapitated head down, declaring, “I like hunting.”
Confounding Writing Elements
There’s too many competing issues with “Send Help” on the writing side to keep track of. However, the first half of the island survival story mainly consists of: Linda showing how utterly capable she is alongside Bradley’s utter incompetence, and the fact that Linda is clearly not looking to be rescued. In fact she actively thwarts rescue, feeling like this is where she belongs. There’s also some obvious references to “Lord of the Flies” (“I found the conch!”). It also soon becomes apparent that Linda is getting off on keeping Bradley alive and the power shifts that creates.
Reaching the middle of “Send Help” I was aware of two things: Bradley is a narcissist and helpless nepo-baby and Linda was thoroughly and irrefutably evil. It’s clear Raimi and company want us to side with Linda and enjoy the “takedown” of Bradley’s misogyny. However, that’s nearly impossible to do unless you check your morals at the door. And the film’s end — completely ridiculous — asks us to bask in a misplaced feminist “victory,” borrowing unearned notes from “Knives Out” and “Ready or Not” in the process.
The star of the film is clearly McAdams. She puts to shame her previous unsupportive wife from “Midnight in Paris” with a villain in Linda that’s so complete she’s unrecognizable by the end. As the film slips on, her awkwardness from the beginning completely disappears, replaced by confidence and insanity in equal measure. Adams delivers an unquestioning acting masterclass and it’s clear she’s having a terrific time.
McAdams is Great but Poorly Written
However, the problem is that her character is written so unconvincingly the film’s ask is too gaping to make sense. When you start to like her for a moment (a campfire talk between her and Bradley had potential), Raimi throws it out the window as Linda devolves further and further into madness. It’s clear she never wants to leave the island, has no intention of working together with Bradley to that end, and is working overtime to make him reliant on her for the sake of winning the war of the sexes. Bradley is a complete jerk and that never changes. However, Linda is such a bad person it makes him pale by comparison. I honestly wonder why Raimi, Swift, and Shannon thought she’d make a good protagonist. I can imagine a better written character that was not as awkward, not as conniving, and not as evil — who has to overcome her evil boss — making a good plot here. It’s though the film’s evolving grossness and blood and guts were supposed to answer for story. The problem is it doesn’t.
“Send Help” has a few things going for it. The photography on the island by Cinematographer Bill Pope is exquisite, showcasing its beauty — and danger — especially amidst torrential downpours. O’Brien is also a capable actor, and he maintains the difficult balance between helplessness and narcissism well. He’s also capable of humor. This is best seen when he wanders off by himself to survive, cannot, and mutters to himself, “you’re beaten.” But as hard as the writers try, as the film clicks on — and culminates in a bloody, absurd fight between the two — I liked Bradley more and not less. To garner sympathy for Linda, Bradley should have been the villain. But he’s not. She clearly is, and it makes the movie’s final frame that much more head-scratching.
A Missed Opportunity
“Send Help” is just a movie I found impossible to like. It borrows from so many others films — and mashes them together so — that it becomes a mess by the end. The genuine frights and power commentary it had towards the beginning are pointless by its conclusion. It’s also clear spraying blood and calamity were supposed to answer for its writing missteps.
The way to make a movie that takes down misogyny and female maltreatment is not to have you female subject be more evil and insane than the patriarchal antagonist she’s trying to take down. Whatever social commentary the film wants to underline is lost amidst Linda’s unhinged nature and its utterly insulting ending. Where films like “Knives Out” eloquently hammer their points home, “Send Help” just hammers. That it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes by both critics and audiences sort of makes me feel like I’m insane, but it’s a feeling I’ve gotten used to 15 years into this critic thing. “Send Help” just earns a big shrug from me. I don’t know what else to say.
