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                                                        3 Stars out of 4
  



It must have been hard work to make Rachel McAdams look so frumpy. Plus, she’s not very likeable. She’s trying too hard, talking too much, and kind of needy. She also happens to be the smartest person in the room.

If the movie had stopped there, it would have been an interesting commentary about women in the workplace hitting glass ceilings, the dangers of “old boy’s networks” and women being underestimated in the workplace.


But holy shit does the movie not stop there.


The second part of the story happens after a plane crash, which leaves McAdams (Linda Little here) stranded on a desert island with the alpha douchebag of the group, played by Dylan O’Brien (“Bradley” here, a good name for a douche.) He still thinks he’s her boss and can tell her what to do. He gets over that pretty fast.


You see, Linda has been training for the show “Survivor” and is almost perfectly suited to be stranded on a desert island. She builds shelters and finds food, and nurses Bradley back to health. At this point in the movie, it’s pretty clear who the good person is here and who the bad person is.


But, as they say in Horse Racing, hang on to your tickets.


You see, Linda is batshit crazy. Think Kathy Bates in Misery combined with one of those mean kids from Lord of The Flies. Some of what Bradley does is equally reprehensible, and at no point in the movie does he redeem himself. But you do kind of start feeling bad for the guy.


This movie wanders into crazytown a number of times, and we move a long way from empathizing with the bullied, frumpy woman at the beginning of the movie.


There are numerous twists along the way as the movie gets darker and darker. Lord of the Flies is one useful analogy. What happens to humans if you strip away the politeness and restraints of civilization and observe them as their most primal selves?


Triangle of Sadness is another movie that comes to mind here. If the world went back to sticks and stones, who would the leaders be? Certainly not the corporate assholes who don’t know how to do anything. No, the people who can build the huts and provide the food would call the shots then, (this does make me a little concerned as a psychologist.) The frat boys were all having a good laugh at Linda’s expense for her “Survivor” audition.


But in the end, she outwits and outlasts them all.


And the ending provides us with the last twist. Linds returns to the world as a hero. It seems “assholes prosper” is another one of the lessons of this movie. One thing women have sometimes noted about the glass ceiling, is how things like golf outings and after work drinks contribute to boys taking care of their own in the workplace.


But is seems Linda has got that figured out now as well..


The movie ends with Linda listening to her signature song, Blondie’s “One Way or Another.”


it's the perfect song as Linda now settles into her spot at the top of the food chain.


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