What’s It About
Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Following his successful film in 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Sam Raimi creates chaos, providing a wild ride for all of us office workers to relate to. With some degree of horror, dark humour and vengeance against our co-workers, this story finds a way to weave together even as the storyline creates illogical decisions. What appears to be uncomplicated will end up being anything but. Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) works long hours at a financial firm. Though she handles every task without error, recognition never comes her way. Her efforts pile up, yet still go unseen. Excellence defines her, but at the end of the day, she is just a sad, lonely lady with a bird. Her former boss had promised her a promotion to vice president, but he passed away, and his son, Bradley, took over. Dylan O’Brien depicts Bradley as a boss who is the worst kind: wealthy, lazy, and unreasonably mean. He struts around as if he owns everything (which, technically, he does) and treats Linda as if she were invisible. Bradley chooses to give the promotion to his golf buddy instead of the deserving Linda. It made sense to everyone that Linda had earned the promotion many times over. Linda presents to us as a stereotypical ignored person, and everybody expects the same from her. Boring sweater, ugly shoes, the whole deal. Meanwhile, Bradley, along with his friends are mocking her in her absence. They even watch and laugh at a video she made trying to get on the TV show Survivor, which is a kind of obsession for her. She is virtually religious in her viewing and knows everything about living in the wild. Nevertheless, before the office grappling can unfold, their private jet crashes into the ocean en route to Thailand. This is when the movie overturns the entire scenario. The plane crash leaves Linda and Bradley as the only survivors, and they end up on some deserted island. In such a situation, all of one’s previous corporate trivialities become irrelevant. While Linda has been getting ready for this moment her entire life without realizing it, Bradley cannot even manage to make a fire. She constructs living quarters using palm leaves and bamboo. She goes foraging. She even manages to create fire by rubbing a stick, and her excitement over this is crazy. Bradley, on the other hand, is lounging under a tree with a leg injury but still behaving as if the office rules apply here. The transition in the power dynamics is swift. The Linda we once knew is the quiet, awkward worker that no one knows, who she has become now. Her hair, untamed and unbound, reflects her change. She whips up the most delicious dishes from the fruits of the island. The scene in which she kills a wild boar is so delightful and crazy that Raimi goes to the extent of making the boar look like an evil creature from a horror film to lessen the guilt of the viewers. Unused and ineffective become the labels for Bradley, and it is highly gratifying to behold the gradual acknowledgment of his dependence on Linda for survival. It is the different facets of the characters that make the duo so compelling. In an actor’s career, playing such a dual role can be the crowning glory. To me, the most definitive element of the film is its unpredictability. When you think you have figured out the trajectory of the plot, the writers turn the story in an entirely different direction. Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the scriptwriters, keep throwing the audience off guard. Scenes and sequences fluctuate between the three distinct genres, namely, romance, horror, and comedy. The final act is a whirlwind of events with a mixture of farce and frenzy of violence. At any given time, you can anticipate a change from sweetness to shock. It follows that the film is not without its imperfections. An inconsistency in the editing of certain scenes has affected the overall flow of the film, while some parts feel stretched out unnecessarily when the film is supposed to be heading towards its culmination. Additionally, some of the island landscapes in the wide shots appear to be photoshopped, though this is something that may be taken as a breakdown of the idyllic and beautiful world that the director is trying to portray. Danny Elfman’s score plays a crucial role in the film by drawing attention to Linda’s small victories and making them appear grand while at the same time underlining Bradley’s failures in a humorous, sad way. What sets this apart from any other movie about work is its lack of preachiness. Everyone has at one time or another known Bradleys, individuals who landed their position thanks to their connections rather than their qualifications. On the other hand, there are also those who resemble Linds, capable workers who are always ignored and disrespected. Witnessing the reversal of their roles is gratifying, and this feeling remains even if the movie is taken in a dark direction from time to time. Raimi was adamant that the movie be released theatrically rather than on streaming, and one can discern his reasons. An audience is required for a movie like this, where the collective gasps, laughter, and compelled groans enhance the overall experience. This is a movie director, Tim Raimi, at his best: genre, blending, boundary, pushing, and enjoying the process. Send Help will not be everyone’s cup of tea. If you are a person that gets disgusted easily or is not a fan of uncomfortable humor, then it is best to give the movie a miss. However, if you take pleasure in films that gamble and don’t play it safe, this one is worthy of your attention. So far, it is one of the most entertaining films of the current year and demonstrates that Raimi continues to be very resourceful.
OUR RATING – A WORKPLACE 8