Submit a review Help – Sam Raimi returns with a fight to survive after a blood-filled plane crash | film

SAm Raimi returns with this violent black comedy written by Damien Shannon and Mark Swift, set on a desert island where two plane wreck survivors face off. It’s a film whose initially entertaining premise and clever sarcasm are finally damaged by Raimi’s need to liven things up with faux “horror” flourishes for the fanbase, and on-brand gore explosions that aren’t really scary and undermine the film’s credibility, turning the whole thing into silliness. The poster and promotional materials promise a “horror” film, but that’s not really the case. But what is it? Well, it’s a desert island story that owes something to JM Barrie The Admirable Crichton and… how do I say it? …other dramatic works. No spoilers, but Raimi’s appearance borrowing from a recent Palme d’Or winner at Cannes was not, as they say, on my bingo card.

Rachel McAdams plays Linda Liddell, a single woman who lives alone with a caged bird. She is dedicated to her work. She’s a highly intelligent researcher at a company, but she’s been passed over for a promotion by the charmless misogynists who run the company: useless, untalented males in Patrick Bateman suits who depend on her work. Among these obnoxious sexists is new CEO Bradley Preston, played by Dylan O’Brien, an empty-nester whose late father, the company’s founder, valued Linda enough to promise her the vice presidency – a promise that the obnoxious Bradley now smugly denies.

He and his horrible bros mock and insult her, especially her ambition to be on the top-rated “Survivor” TV show. They find her test footage online – showing how skilled she is at bushcraft, making fires and shelters, etc. – and laugh at it. But they can’t avoid bringing Linda with them to a business conference in Thailand on the company’s private plane, and when that plane crashes on a remote island in a storm, and the only survivors are the brave and capable Linda and the spoiled Bradley… well, guess who’s boss now?

It’s a thoroughly enjoyable and time-honored setup, and the first act, when the new reality dawns on the clueless Bradley, is watchable. But the plot twists are derivative and the action then becomes reliant on bizarre grisly stabs that are neither convincing nor consistent with the characterization. In the end, it’s infuriating – but McAdams gives a solid performance.