This article contains spoilers for “Send help”.
Sam Raimi’s new thriller “Send Help” follows the adventures of Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), a hardworking employee in the planning and strategy department of a wealthy, high-profile company. Linda is an employee without whom the company cannot survive, but her work is rarely recognized, if not actively ignored, by her mischievous and less qualified bosses. The company’s new CEO, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), doesn’t like Linda right away, cringing at her mousy appearance and pointing out that she smells like his tuna lunches. The tables turn when, on their way to a notable business summit, their plane crashes into the ocean, leaving Linda and Bradley stranded alone on a remote tropical island.
Linda, as it happens, is a “survivor” fanatic and has spent years practicing her wilderness survival skills, so she’s right at home. Bradley, meanwhile, has no applicable survival skills. Indeed, his only skills seem to be chatting, playing golf, and generally being cruel to his employees. Linda, because she is such a kind and decent person, treats Bradley (he was injured in the accident) and carefully begins to explain that here, on this island, she wields all the power. Bradley begins to realize that his golf and intimidation skills aren’t useful at all.
Just by reading this premise, one might immediately be reminded the end of Ruben Östlund’s 2022 satire “Triangle of Sadness”, a film that was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Both films are about how rich, disconnected assholes, thrust into a survival situation on a remote tropical island, become completely helpless. Only their perceived “subordinates” can take control of the situation with their applicable survival skills.
Send Help is the horror version of Triangle of Sadness
“Send Help” is a bit more of a character study than “Triangle of Sadness.” Sam Raimi’s film follows Linda’s journey to self-affirmation, as she finally learns to speak clearly and aggressively to the boss she previously retreated from. Bradley, meanwhile, might (or might not) learn to be less of a jerk and accept that bullying and harassing his employees won’t get him anywhere on a desert island. It’s never said out loud in “Send Help”, but his money won’t get him anything on a remote island.
“Triangle of Sadness” is a bit more acidic in tone, treating its wealthy characters as a helpless, amorphous mass. During the course of the film, a well-financed yacht is damaged in a storm and the wealthy people on board are stranded on an island. The rich are traders, models and other people who don’t work. They fight over the last food parcels washed up on the shore, and none of them know how to make a fire. Dolly de Leon plays the ship’s toilet manager, Abigail, who, as it happens, is the only one who knows how to start a fire and carry out any sort of salvage on the island around them.
Abigail, although considered a poor and neglected member of the “help” on the yacht, quickly takes control of the situation on the island. She demands to be given more comfortable sleeping quarters (part of the boat also washes up on shore), first access to food, and even willing sexual partners in exchange for her survival skills. The power dynamic is completely reversed. Both films are about formerly powerless taking advantage of their newfound power in an environment where the rules have been reset.
Even some of the plot twists in Send Help are the same as in Triangle of Sadness.
It turns out that “Send Help” and “Triangle of Sadness” feature similar twist endings. Without giving too much away, I can say that “Triangle of Sadness” sports a fun and ironic surprise development right near the end, which Sam Raimi’s film echoes. It is revealed that they were actually on an inhabited island all along, as it served as a high-end tropical resort. When Abigail and model Yaya (Charbli Dean) discover this fact while exploring on their own, it changes everything. Yaya is relieved that the return to civilization is near, while Abigail plans to assassinate Yaya to keep the station a secret and maintain her power over the rich.
“Send Help” also features a scene where Linda faces the risk of committing murder to keep a very similar secret. Linda’s beach romance could be interrupted and Linda could kill to protect her. On the beach, Linda knows how to find water and build a shelter. She learned to hunt local wild boars and catch local fish. For Linda, this island – far from the stuffy office where she worked – is paradise. And, best of all, she can lord her skills and intelligence over this rich, rich fool who always thought he was better than her.
In “Triangle of Sadness”, Abigail’s island is less idyllic, but Abigail also manages to lord her skills and intelligence over the idiotic bourgeoisie who previously ignored her. “Send Help” is the most violent horror/comedy version of “Triangle of Sadness.” Of course, deep down, both films are also essentially “Gilligan’s Island.” Additionally, both films feature a lot of vomiting. I like it a lot. They have so much in common.
