If you thought Rachel McAdams was a formidable screen presence as Regina George, just wait till you see her face off with a maniacal boar.
The “Mean Girls” actress stars in director Sam Raimi’s survival thriller “Send Help” (in theaters Jan. 30) as Linda Liddle, a dowdy strategy-and-planning expert passed over for promotion and treated badly by her sexist new frat-bro boss Bradley (Dylan O’Brien). On a business trip to Thailand, their plane crashes and the two wind up on a remote deserted island. He’s injured and a hot mess. She, on the other hand, is a huge “Survivor” fan with some serious skills for staying alive.
While Bradley recuperates, Linda builds shelter near the water and goes hunting for food in the forest. In an exclusive scene debuting at usatoday.com, Linda runs into a nasty boar that attacks her. You’ll have to see how their fight concludes on the big screen, but it’s extremely gory, doesn’t end well for the boar and covers Linda in blood.
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It’s a critical character moment “where her killer instincts do come out, and she learns what she's capable of in a very physical, ugly act. If necessary to survive, she'll go there,” Raimi says. “It’s also about a comparison to the inept Bradley. It's like a seesaw, as the power dynamic shifts: She becomes the powerful one, and his weakness is revealed.
