Send Help (2026)

​“Send Help” stars Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, and Thaneth Warakulnukroh.  Released on January 30, 2026, the film follows two colleagues who survive against each other on a deserted island.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi, who also directed films such as “The Evil Dead”, “The Quick and the Dead”, “Spider-Man”, and “Drag Me to Hell”.  We all have that one boss who’s just as frustrating to deal with as the co-workers, maybe even more.  Whether they give you less pay, ignore your concerns, or bully you with mistreatment, these so-called “higher-ups” are despicable enough to make you question why they even have their jobs.  Fortunately, the right opportunity arrives to give a specific employee a chance to give their boss a taste of their own medicine.  While the appropriate option would be to quit the job and file a report on that one boss, Sam Raimi thought it would be more rewarding to torture that ungrateful jerk on a remote island instead.  After tackling the superhero genre once again with Doctor Strange, Raimi returns to the director’s chair to give us his twisted, violent version of “Cast Away”, but without Tom Hanks calling out to Wilson in the background.  Does it provide enough of the director’s deranged, grisly style to deliver an experience worth surviving in, or are we better off searching for a new, safer job?  Let’s find out.

The story centers on Linda Liddle (McAdams), an employee working in a company’s Planning & Strategy Department.  Despite her hard-working attitude, she is constantly struggling to retain her sanity due to her mistreatment by her sexist CEO, Bradley Preston (O’Brien), whose father wanted him to promote her.  A reluctant Bradley advises Linda to prove her worth during their business trip to Bangkok, where they’ll discuss a company merger.  However, their trip takes a sudden detour when a storm causes their plane to crash, stranding Linda and Bradley on a deserted island.  While fighting for survival, tensions begin to rise between employee and boss, as Bradley experiences the descent of Linda’s sanity before his very eyes.

When it comes to presentation, Sam Raimi can do no wrong in giving us a twisted, distinct, and terrifyingly fun experience as a director.  Sure, he has also made an impact as a producer, notably for the horror genre, but when he’s in the director’s chair, he’s not afraid to turn the creepily absurd levels all the way to a ten.  This was evident in his “Evil Dead” and “Spider-Man” trilogies, both of which put Raimi’s name on the Hollywood map and are the reasons why I admired his eccentric craft as a filmmaker.  Of course, there was also “Drag Me to Hell”, which is considered one of Raimi’s best works of his career, and I would tend to agree based on my experience with it, despite not revisiting it since then.  These movies define Sam Raimi as one of the must-see filmmakers yet, so it’s unsurprising that I was looking forward to the first original film he’s directed since “Drag Me to Hell” seventeen years ago.       

Yeah, it has been some time since he last helmed a film beyond the limitations of IP franchises.  Thankfully, Raimi hasn’t missed a step in delivering some insanely kooky stuff in his take on “The Wizard of Oz” and “Doctor Strange”.  “Send Help” has Raimi test his signature chaos on a concept that’s akin to “Cast Away”, if Tom Hanks plays a sexist boss.  The result is precisely what you would expect from a Sam Raimi film: insane, darkly humorous, and effectively terrifying, with some twists here and there.  Most people would toss it off as another survival-of-the-fittest thriller, a traditional story of two people putting aside their differences to escape the island they're stranded on.  However, “Send Help” flips the script on these tropes in favor of a wicked, heart-pounding nightmare that’ll live rent-free in my head compared to other second-rate horror movies.  In fact, I would say that this is the most fun I had watching a Sam Raimi movie in the post-Spider-Man era.

If you’ve seen one of Sam Raimi’s works, you’ll know exactly what he’s capable of in his craft, especially for the horror genre.  Sure, he’s directed movies outside of that genre, like superheroes, thrillers, and drama, but horror is where his talent truly shines.  In addition to his genre-blending approach, Raimi has a unique eye for how the camerawork operates, particularly for the panning, swift zooms, and close-up shots, delivering that enthralling uncanniness to his style.  Every detail shown in Bill Pope’s haunting cinematography and Bob Murawski’s solid editing is pure Raimi at his finest, even for the horror aspects.  There were only a couple of jump scares in the film, but the way Sam Raimi blends them with his signature vision, lighting effects, and disturbing visuals makes them more frightening than irritating.  It possesses that peculiar essence in horror filmmaking that makes the familiar jump scares feel fresh and exciting rather than derivative and soulless, and Raimi is one of the filmmakers who nails that discomforting aura to a tee.  Some of its effects looked a bit iffy at times, mainly the CGI, but they seemed intentional to match Raimi’s twisted vision, which I don’t mind at all.  Its horror aspect was also balanced extremely well with Danny Elfman’s score, providing a hint of surrealism and a sense of tension through its melodious chaos.  Its dark humor, involving the characters’ descent, adds to the enjoyment and satisfaction of watching them lose their minds on an island.  Of course, it’s also rewarding to watch Bradley suffer for his rudeness, particularly for the one scene involving one of Linda’s ideas of torture.

Now, you might be a bit surprised when I say that the script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift was surprisingly effective not just for its themes and characters, but also for its twisty, refreshing take on survival tropes.  This is the same duo who wrote “Freddy vs. Jason”, “Shark Tale”, the “Friday the 13th” reboot, and “Baywatch”, all of which were not well-received when they first came out.  So, the fact that they turned themselves around with “Send Help” is just as crazy as fighting a boar with only a spear, but also quite impressive.  As I mentioned earlier, the screenplay deserves praise for offering entertaining twists in this seemingly ordinary "Cast Away" ripoff, particularly its unexpected climax.  However, it also deserves credit for its depiction of toxic masculinity and power dynamics, especially when the characters’ roles are reversed.  Linda and Bradley may appear to have an “enemies to friends” chemistry, but the movie portrays them as individuals who are driving their souls apart—not only from each other but also from their own beliefs.  Linda’s survival instincts and mistreatment from the guys send her over the edge in an attempt to give Bradley some well-deserved payback.  As for Bradley…well, we all know what happens to guys who are sexist and self-entitled.  These aren’t the characters you’re supposed to root for, but rather to fear, as their different actions define them as monsters.  You got to wonder whether you'd prefer to be stranded on an island alone or with someone else.  Either way, you’re both screwed.

Another aspect that solidifies “Send Help” as the hit for me was its main leads, Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien.  There’s no doubt that McAdams is a huge deal in the comedy and drama categories, especially the former, based on the previous films she’s been in.  Unsurprisingly, “Send Help” shows that McAdams is still going strong in making me laugh through her performance, but with a more twisted, psychological flair added in for a frightful boost.  Rachel McAdams delivered a near-perfect blend of charm, dark humor, and creepiness that highlights Linda’s descent into madness, resulting in one of the most entertaining and nerve-wracking performances I’ve seen from her.  Of course, she’s not the only survivor carrying the movie on her back, as Dylan O’Brien also shone in his performance as Bradley.  The “Maze Runner” star did an impressive job conveying the self-absorbed, ignorant personality of Linda’s new CEO, who’d rather have a man captain the ship instead of a woman.  Bradley is just a piece of garbage who gets his just desserts from Linda, both of which are equally satisfying due to O’Brien’s commitment to make his unlikable character tolerable.  The supporting cast, including Edyll Ismail as Zuri and Dennis Haysbert as Franklin, also delivered decent performances, even though most were only in the film's opening.

Overall, “Send Help” is a gleefully diabolical take on “Cast Away” that flips the script on Hollywood’s traditional survival skills.  Sam Raimi delivers a refreshingly wild ride that’s satisfying in its premise and presentation and terrifying in its thrills and crazed mayhem.  It’s twisted in its exploration of the characters’ descent into madness and hauntingly discomforting, but it’s also a delightful horror treat worth watching with an audience, especially for its dark humor.  Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien both shine in their frighteningly compelling roles, while Raimi delivers the genre-blending flair that made him a survivor of the horror genre.  Despite some iffy CGI that interferes with its tone, the film is chaotically insane and entertaining enough to make audiences reconsider sending an SOS too soon.  If you’re a fan of Sam Raimi’s previous works, notably “Drag Me to Hell” and “The Evil Dead”, I bet that you’ll enjoy this one as well.  It may not be revolutionary in its storytelling, but I will say that this is one of the best theatrical experiences I had this year.

A-