The black comedy/thriller Send Help, has definitely shocked more than one spectator as it arrived in cinemas across the globe. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brian, the twisted picture tells the story of Linda, the most ambitious and joyful worker in a big corporate company. She sees her optimism disappear after the arrival of a new boss, Bradley, devoid of all humanity, pure incarnation of wickedness, whom God himself couldn’t forgive on the day of final judgment.
After a humiliation disguised as a professional meeting, Bradley invites her on a business trip to Thailand, which ends with a crash in the ocean. The only survivors are Linda and Bradley minus one leg who will both have to learn to survive together until help arrives.
The film lasts about two hours and there is clearly a big difference between the two of them. During the first hour, everything is placed for you to think you are about to watch another average level, almost AI generated, basic emotions felt, movie. This is mostly due to the very old visual effects, the personalities exaggerated way over reality and scenarios that sometimes seemed a bit far-fetched.
But don’t leave your cinema seat; I think that all of this was done on purpose to make viewers lower their guard. I would even argue that the bad CGI has been degraded on purpose to better prepare the minds for the heart attack that arrives in the second hour, but again it’s just a theory.
...you can really feel the turning point when madness actually starts.
Sam Raimi always knew how to invoke a wanted heart-beat-per-minute with his many horror movies. In the second half of Send Help, his direction is similar to those, and the perfectly controlled acting of the two main actors push this absolute control over the viewer's expectations. This notion of control has a crucial importance in the third act where you can really feel the turning point when madness actually starts. Sam Raimi refused to made this movie with a studio that would not put it in cinemas, and that is how you recognise a man that knows the true meaning of the cinema experience. This one will make you leave the cinema with the moral printed on your brain - “no one’s born a monster, peoples shape them afterwards”.
What a way to start a year of movies with a defibrillator of a movie. There are a million possible opinions about it but undeniably it’s original and will surprise the hell out of you. This film is a journey into every corner of human morality from the darkest to the most well-known which leads you to the final shot that screams to your face “What ? – What ?? – You judging me ??? C’mon you would not have done better!”