In my professional life, such as it is, I’ve caught one huge break. I’m not someone who’s made a titanic amount of money, and can spend like a drunken Trump donor. I’m not someone who’s made an indelible impact on culture, and will go down in the annals of human history. I’m not someone who’s amassed power and can influence the lives of thousands with the merest gesture.

Despite all of that, I’ve never had an asshole boss. I’ve had bosses that were competent, bosses that were opportunistic, and bosses that were checked out. But I’ve never had one that was a delightful combination of ignorant and malignant. My wife has, and without going into details, at one point she had a boss who was so awful that I had to talk her out of quitting on the spot. 

Given that we live in a time rife with both greed and stupidity, you’ve probably worked for a suboptimal supervisor and can relate. It’s fertile ground for the subject of a movie. That’s the genius of Sam Raimi’s new film Send Help. To one degree or another, we can all relate to being stuck with a lousy boss, and Raimi takes the concept to a horrifying and hilarious level.

We’re introduced to Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), who has methodically climbed the ladder at a consulting firm. As she reminds everyone, she’s not an accountant. She’s in the Strategy and Planning department, and when it comes to her job, she’s very good at it. Her old boss* agrees and has verbally promised her a promotion to vice-president.

Unfortunately, the old boss drops dead. His son, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), takes over leadership of the company. He’s a tech bro scumbag, more interested in promoting his unqualified buddies and ogling the women in the office. Ogling most of the women, I mean. Bradley immediately doesn’t like Linda. He doesn’t like her less than stylish wardrobe, her nervous work jokes, and the fact that she talks to him without realizing there’s a smear of tuna fish on her chin. Worst of all, as a woman in her forties, to him she might as well be a swamp hag.

Bradley denies Linda’s promotion without a second thought, and he plans to transfer her far away from the main office. She’s upset, furious, and in her way she stands up for herself. That gives Bradley a possible opening to further humiliate her. He says he’ll give her a chance to “prove herself.” A critical meeting is planned overseas, and Bradley invites Linda along. If she can crunch the numbers satisfactorily, he’ll reconsider her promotion.

What Linda doesn’t know is that Bradley won’t reconsider anything. He loses his chance to further humiliate her when their plane crashes into the ocean. The only survivors are Linda and Bradley, and they find themselves on an island. Speaking of survivors, what Bradley doesn’t know is that Linda is a superfan of the TV series Survivor, and has methodically studied island survival to apply as a contestant. She’s so prepared for island life, she could have gotten Tom Hanks and his volleyball rescued inside of a week. Bradley sees that she’s in her element. He doesn’t like it. Then things get really insane.

If you’re a civilian, you likely only know Sam Raimi from having directed the original Spider-Man trilogy. But if you’re a horror hound, you know Raimi made the first three Evil Dead films and perfected splatstick, a gory fusion of horror and comedy. In the last few days, I’ve seen cheers from the online film community that Sam Raimi is back. In a way, he never left. Raimi has been consistently producing horror movies for the last twenty years, and 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness felt like a way for him to shake the dust off and prepare to go hard.

With Send Help, Raimi goes gloriously, ridiculously hard. Once the plane has crashed and our survivors are on the island, Raimi stomps on the gas. He gleefully douses his actors in gore and stages sequences that are so insane that, as much as I desperately want to talk about them with you, doing so would ruin the surprise. There are moments of quiet, thoughtful character study, and we’re reminded that this is the man who directed A Simple Plan and The Gift. There are far more moments of blood, vomit, and viscera, and we’re reminded that this is the man who directed Evil Dead II and Drag Me to Hell. In a strange way, this film is the ultimate amalgamation of Raimi’s filmmaking talents, and I mean that as a high compliment.

The screenplay by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift is one that budding screenwriters would do well to study. Is it a comedy about an overlooked woman in the workplace discovering her power? Is it a satire about professional misogyny? Is it survival horror? Yes to all of the above. Shannon and Swift do outstanding work factoring in all those themes, and making us think we’re watching one thing, only to pull the rug out and show we’re seeing something else. They do the same thing with the characters, and as the power dynamics keep shifting, they remind the audience not to get too comfortable rooting for either Linda or Bradley. Those decisions make the script constantly surprising and fresh, and these days that’s more necessary than ever.

If we lived in the best of all possible worlds,** the cast of Send Help would be awash in acting awards next year. As Bradley, Dylan O’Brien isn’t just playing a one dimensional tech bro scumbag. He turns in a sneaky performance with quick moments of romance and pathos. O’Brien pulls out all the stops, and I imagine he knew he had to in order to keep up with Rachel McAdams. She’s quietly become one of the best working actors today,*** and as Linda, she proves it yet again. Watch the early office scenes, and you’ll see McAdams isn’t playing the cliche of the pretty lady who everyone thinks is frumpy. Early on, Linda is actively off-putting, a well-meaning dweeb who thinks she’s clever but who’s socially incompetent. Then watch her shift on the island as she comes into her element. Then watch her shift again as her confidence turns into…something else. McAdams is utterly fearless, and she turns in a performance that’s committed in all the best ways.

If you’ve had a bad boss, you can imagine the hell of being trapped with them. Send Help doesn’t run with that concept, it sprints with it, carrying a spear and cackling. In my theater, Send Help blew the roof off the place. There were cheers, guffaws, applause, and good-natured groans. Do yourself a favor and see this one with a crowd.

*The old boss is played by Sam Raimi BFF Bruce Campbell, who appears in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.

**We don’t.

***Marvel Studios should feel great shame for giving her so little to do in the two Doctor Strange movies. I hope she was paid well, at least.

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.