I’ll be seeing “Send Help” tomorrow morning. The review embargo breaks on Monday, and the film hits theaters on Friday, January 30.
That said, social media reactions are starting to trickle out. The film had its world premiere yesterday, and although I have to reiterate that these should be taken with a grain of salt, the early consensus is very positive.
“Send Help” is Raimi’s first R-rated movie in over 25 years. It’s being promoted as a return to his roots in genre filmmaking—the type of violent, blood-soaked statement Raimi hasn’t really given us since 2008’s “Drag Me to Hell.”
“Send Help” is a hybrid of comedy, adventure and horror tackling Linda (Rachel McAdams), a female employee, and her irritating boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), whose plane crashes on an island with only the two of them making it out alive. Linda has serious survival skills, which means she's Bradley’s only hope to stay alive.
“Send Help,” which has been described as “Misery” meets “Cast Away,” was penned by “A Quiet Place” duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The original draft, before Beck/Woods came in to rewrite the whole thing, came from Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (“Freddy vs Jason,” “Baywatch”).
Raimi’s best work includes “Army of Darkness,” “Evil Dead II,” “A Simple Plan,” “Darkman,” “Drag Me To Hell,” and “Spider-Man 2.” Hopefully, and after a string of recent disappointments, he has another winner here.
Social reactions below.
