Anyone that knows me or is familiar with my movie preferences, knows that I have bizarre taste. I attribute a lot of that to Sam Raimi. I weirdly grew up watching Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, and then when I was much older, I fell in love with his 2009 film, Drag Me to Hell. So, anytime Raimi goes back to his horror roots, I’m a happy person.
Send Help tells the story of Linda (Rachel McAdams), who has been a loyal employee for a burgeoning corporation, in hopes that a VP promotion is just on the horizon. Enter the new young boss, Bradly (Dylan O’Brien) who looks down on Linda’s office behavior and only has goals of promoting his buddies.
As promised in the trailer, while on a work trip, their plane crashes and leaves the two of them stranded on a remote island. Bradley is injured and needs assistance constantly, but thankfully Linda has trained years for this with her intense love for the show, Survivor. She has all the tricks to keep them alive until rescue comes. Yet, their dynamic of superiority shifts, and that shift gets a little violent.
Let’s get this out of the way, Send Help is not really a horror film. There are insane parts that feel horrific, but it’s more a cat and mouse game where suspicion and survival are always on the character’s minds. This is a thriller that has the ability to make you sympathize with each character at different times.
Even though Linda is the clear protagonist, she is far from a good person. Rachel McAdams plays her brilliantly. She is the lovable loser archetype that just hasn’t got a chance to prove herself. Yet, she plays her so unhinged, that she’d also be someone that you’d want to create distance from. Dylan O’Brien plays smug so well, that even when he’s trying to win over Linda, you can see right through the exterior. He’s the CEO we all love to hate, but he also presents a side that makes you root for his redemption.
There are a few script issues. At times, this drags out some unpredictable scenes and the dialogue feels formulaic. With lesser actors, this could have turned into a mess, but thankfully McAdams and O’Brien are incredibly talented. Also, the passage of time feels irrelevant and disjointed. That’s important in a desert island movie.
The best parts of the movie is all the Raimi tropes within. He is able to shock an audience without leaving a bad taste in their mouths. The bigger moments are legitimately hilarious and had me cackling. They were infrequent, but welcome. Truly, I wish the movie did a little more to up the drama and tension, because what we got was really fun.
Send Help is another great way to welcome 2026 (alongside The Bone Temple). It is hilarious and shocking in so many ways. I was a little let down by some script choices, especially a whimper of an ending. However, I really enjoyed the ride and want to see this again. B
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