Quick Synopsis: A dickhead boss is trapped on an island with a co-worker who hates him and is an expert survivalist.

Oh this is painful. This is a very good movie, it’s entertaining, bloody, violent, and has an important message. The issue is, it’s a specific genre that I’m not a fan of. Not horror, not even wilderness horror, a genre/style even more specific. Evil Vs. Evil. Where someone who is clearly an abusive dick comes across someone who they think is innocent but turns out to be sociopathic. What can I say? I like likeable characters, even if they are flawed.

This could have worked, it could have shown her descent into darkness. But to do so, it would have needed Bradley (Dylan O’Briens character) to be more of a dick. Yes, he’s condescending and annoying to Linda (Rachel McAdams), but it could have gone further. Nobody will argue he’s a good person, but if his character was more of a scumbag, the events of the film would have been more entertaining. Firstly, he’s a newly appointed CEO who only got that position because his dad ran the company. He’s clearly a finance bro, yet he’s not that misogynistic. He’s not a feminist, but I feel he’d be more entitled and ruder to women, especially ones who work for him. The closest he gets to that is being kind of creepy to a woman he’s interviewing for a job, but we only find out about that because Linda barges in, which kind of makes her seem unprofessional. Also, that moment is referenced later on, in one of a few situations where it seems like Linda is into him. That’s weird, and kind of devalues her as a character. He can mistreat her, deny her promotion, leave her for dead, and yet she’s still sexually attracted to him.

It’s a shame, as if you took those moments of her lusting over him out, added a few scenes of him calling her the c-word etc, it would be one hell of a film. It’s visually interesting, mostly taking place in daylight, which I always love for a horror movie. The plane crash itself feels horrifying, and you won’t mourn most of the deaths in it. Weirdly, the plane crash isn’t the most violent part of it. That comes from a wild boar. I feel wild boars are like hippos; we don’t really appreciate how scary they can be. Send Help does a great job of showing what they’re like; a massive danger and it takes a lot to kill them. That scene may be among my favourite of the year so far: it’s violent, and indicates just how far she can go when pushed.

Good time to say this: Rachel McAdams is great in this. She tiptoes the line between “I’m just a happy hippy” and “I will cut your f*cking nuts off” as finely as anybody else could. She’s definitely playing against type, but does it so well that you’d assume this was her type. She’d make a great serial killer. In a movie, I mean. Well, maybe in real life too, who knows? #GirlBoss

When I sat down to watch this, I was uncertain as to how it could stretch the premise to nearly two hours. The answer? It can’t. It constantly resets the characters and their motivations. You could edit and reorganise 60% of this films events and it wouldn’t matter. It reminds me of when a TV series gets given 5 more episodes in its final season so the writers have to pull back on character development to fill the unnaturally extended runtime.

Personally, I would have had more of the plane crash victims survive. That way, the film could demonstrate how dangerous the island is by killing them. It would also give Bradley a reason to still be a dick. He could think that a group of alpha males could easily outsurvive a woman, and then he gets more and more panicked when they start to weaken. Or maybe he’s the most injured but still bosses everyone around, and they abandon him because of it, which is when she saves him.

I have been overly harsh on this. It’s a solid 7/10 (which depressingly makes it one of the best films I’ve seen this year). I have no need to watch it again, but if its on netflix and I need something to watch? I’ll give it a go.