Send Help producer reveals the surprising on-set hazard that had to be removed from island thriller's set – killer coconuts: "We had to be so 'safety first'"

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Send Help may be a gory horror-comedy that sees two city-types try to survive for weeks on a desert island – but outside of a few stormy nights, all its tension and thrills come from the characters' twisted relationship rather than the setting. It did prove quite a challenging location to shoot in behind the scenes, though...

"We had to be so 'safety first'," producer Zainab Azizi recalls to GamesRadar+. "We shot on a coconut farm, so we had to clear all the coconuts, because they're actually one of the leading causes of death in areas like that.

"It's a fun fact, but also just a very embarrassing way to go," she chuckles. "We had to build stairs down to the beach. We had to learn a lot about sound on set, clearing all the footsteps and the trash – that was actually really sad, all the trash that would wash up on shore – to create this idyllic, remote setting."

Starring Dylan O'Brien and Rachel McAdams, Send Help is essentially Cast Away meets Misery, as the former's evil executive Bradley Preston gets more than he bargained for when he and his meek employee, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), crash land in the Gulf of Thailand. With Bradley having already passed Linda up for a big promotion, the pair's disdain for one another is evident. But things take a dark, zany turn when Linda starts exerting power over Bradley with her Survivor-learned wilderness skills and secrets from their pasts come to light. "We're not in the office anymore," she ominously says at one point. You can say that again...

Rachel McAdams as Linda in Send Help — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

"The writers really wanted us to focus on the characters, not just the situation. So it was more important for us that the island serve as a grounds of revelation," says director Sam Raimi. "They were forced to play parts in our world as the boss and the worker. The boss was horribly cruel. The worker worked hard at their job, and was trustworthy and loyal. But when the façade of that office goes away and they're placed on the island, you get to really see who they are. There's no longer this imaginary hierarchy holding them in some position of power and servitude.

"Now it's just about what determines their worth in this place. He's no good at anything, and she actually has a lot of knowledge," he continues. "We see this power dynamic change, and we watch her grow, but it wasn't all good. She didn't just grow into a better person. Sometimes things are revealed.

"The island is a place of revelation in all ways, so then you realize she had a terrible relationship with her husband and that she may be a murderess. [Bradley] actually had a reason, that didn't justify his behavior, but you begin to understand what made him into the terrible person he was. So I think the writers were more interested in using the island in that fashion, then as a place to show survival skills, even though we had fun with that too."

Send Help is out in US cinemas now, and will be released in the UK on February 5. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.

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