A woman and her overbearing boss become stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. They must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it's a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel
Release Date: January 30, 2026
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated R for strong/bloody violence and language
Runtime: 1h 54m
Review:
Send Help boast a deceptively simple set up that finds Sam Raimi embracing his old school love of horror comedy paired with fun, over the top turns from its central duo of Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. Raimi uses a slick script from Mark Swift and Damian Shannon to deliver a fun office/gender role reversal by setting up the toxic environment O’Brien’s nepo baby takes over. Everything is overblown but strangely familiar to anyone who’s worked in those environments. Rachel McAdams is the “ugly” socially inept workhorse who was promised a promotion before having the rug swiftly taken out from under her. McAdams fully embraces the role adding in layers to the character that slowly reveal themselves over the course of the film. Sporting overly baggy clothes and greasy hair still isn’t quite enough to hide the fact that she’s an attractive woman, but she makes it work thanks to her excellent comedic timing and fully committed turn. She fully embraces the character’s blossoming transformation once the action moves onto the island coming to a bloody zenith when she hunts a wild boar. Dylan O’Brien plays up the faux alpha office male as the new crowned prince of his company topped off with an off-putting laugh. Their back and forth on the island is fun and the script keeps things interesting by moving in unexpected direction and switching up tones along the way. The battle of wits is slowly revealed along the way although some elements are easier to figure out than others. Send Help’s story is simple but there’s a fun undercurrent of the Stanford prison experiment as we watch the power dynamic shift which leaves plenty of food for thought long after the film ends.
B+
