Seeing Send Help makes me wanna go back and see other Sam Raimi movies

For the longest time, to me Sam Raimi was the guy who directed the Spider-man movies, I didn’t know any of his other movies. When it was announced that he would be directing Doctor Strange In The Multiuniverse Of Madness there was a lot of excitement. I didn’t know why but I came to learn that Sam Raimi to perhaps equally recognized for a movie of his that came out in 1981, The Evil Dead. From my understanding, Raimi demonstrated a unique blend of dark comedy and horror that drew a lot of people to that movie, and that signature blend is what made him a favourite among a lot of people. That signature blend bled through at time in the Doctor Strange sequel, but it was obvious that it had been meddled with by higher ups. So when I saw the trailer for Send Help I got excited because it seemed like a Raimi movie through and through.

The story of Send Help is rather simple as it follows only two main characters: Linda played by Rachel McAdams, and Bradley played by Dylan O’Brien. Linda is a hardworking employee of the company which Bradley has inherited from his father. While the father promised Linda a promotion, Bradley has given that position to someone else and gives Linda the option of taking it back by accompanying him to a meeting to figure out some statistics to get them out of trouble. However, all goes to hell as the plane they are on crashes in the ocean and they end up on an isolated island. Now these two with their unfriendly relationship need to survive on a hostile island while they wait to be rescued.

First of all, I understand now. After seeing the signature style of Raimi, I understand why people are such a fan of him. The movie was not horror in the way that I thought, but I can´t deny that it was a horror movie. What was surprising about the horror was the gore and violence. When I saw the movie is rated “15 and above” I thought it was gonna be more psychological horror than anything else. While there is some of that, there were so many scenes where I was cringing in my seat because of what I was seeing on the screen, so many where I was cowering because of the tension and anticipation of a jumpscare. There is so much more blood and unsettling moments than I would’ve thought. Of course there was jumpscares in this movie as well, but they are spaced out very well and are actually done well; not only are most of them unpredictable, but even the ones you see coming still end up scaring you. Thing is not all of it is serious horror that is meant to make you uncomfortable, that’s where the dark comedy comes in. A good comedy is something that I’ve come to appreciate more throughout the years as a lot of modern comedy still has the stain of the MCU style comedy, and Send Help definitely had some good laughs. A good bunch were because of the horror and how absurd it was, which in turn was so thanks to the writing and the acting. More than anything else, I’m just happy to have finally experienced seeing this signature style, and in the cinema nevertheless. The horror and comedy were both good and I enjoyed them a lot, and I can say I know what Raimi’s signature style is.

Apart from Raimi’s style, something else that I walked out of the theatre having absolutely enjoyed was the acting. McAdams and O’Brien absolutely killed ion this movie. And do you know what was the thing that caught my attention the most about them? I could see their emotions! The wrinkles, the folds, the muscles, the natural aesthetics of their faces. They were so emotive and that was so outstanding to me. It may not sound like much, being able to tell emotions from someone’s face, but it caught my attention so hard because of the amount of emotionless faces we have begun to see in media. Whether it’s because of someone’s lack of range or because of the operations and injections done to their face, there are so many acting moments that fail because of the lack of emotive faces that do not convey what the character is supposed to be feeling. That’s why I appreciated it so much here, being able to see the natural aspect of someone’s face and how they can act with it. And trust me, McAdams and O’Brien emote like nothing I’ve ever seen before. A big part of it is Raimi’s direction and the writing of course, but still, props to the actors. Plus, it’s not just their faces, the overall physical acting is superb and on par with the energy and style of Raimi’s acting. Considering how 99.9% of the movie we are constantly following two characters, it is important that the two actors deliver, and they sure did.

While the direction and acting are great and big parts of the success of the movie, the writing should not be overlooked. After all, you need to make a 2 hour movie interesting with a cast of two people. The movie succeeds, not because the story or the characters are complex, but because they have just enough depth. There are some twists and revelations in the movie, but the story is still rather simple and straightforward. Same can be said for the characters, but there is a bit more than that. While the characters may not be complex, they are not defined by a single character trait either. During the movie the different aspects of each character is not only shown to the audience, but are also put to the test throughout the movie and the audience will start to think which aspect will come out on top. The story is merely a tool to put the characters in different situations and see how they would react, which then will form our image of that character. It may sound simple, but it is done well. During the 2 hour runtime of the movie, the writing and story were able to keep me invested and interested, and that is always a big win for a movie.

Perhaps the biggest completement I can give this movie is that I went in tired from the day and yawning, worried that I may not be able to enjoy the movie to its fullest. But the movie just brought me back to life, it was entertaining, funny, scary, and a joy to watch. You can probably delve deeper into the movie, discussing things like cinematography and sound design and such, and while those are important and definitely played a role in the quality of the movie as a whole, I was just happy with the overall experience. Now I see why people see Raimi beyond jus the Spider-man movies, and maybe after seeing more of his movies I will too as I can say with confidence I loved his direction here. Kudos to the actors yet again as I cannot emphasize enough how good McAdams and O’Brien were.