What do you get when you cross an island drama with a comedy and a thriller? You get legendary director Sam Raimi’s exciting return to the R-rating in the form of Send Help.
Director Sam Raimi first took Hollywood by storm back in 1981 when he and his best friend, Bruce Campbell, put together the now cult classic film The Evil Dead, which was itself an amalgamation of different genres. That original film would go on to spawn a trilogy, and even a spinoff TV show. It was about two decades later, though, when he landed the gig as director of the Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, which is, to this day, regarded by many as the greatest comic book movie trilogy of all time.
While Raimi indeed had many different films between these two trilogies, after the release of Spider-Man 3 in 2007. His production rate significantly decreased after the completion of that trilogy, though, with his only releases after being the horror movie Drag Me to Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful, a Wizard of Oz spinoff film with ten times the charm and a tenth of the cringe of Wicked.
Fast forward nearly two decades later, Raimi has once again found himself in the director’s chair with another thriller up his sleeve in the form of Send Help. In an interview it was revealed that the idea to cast Rachel McAdams as the star of the film came from his experience with her on the set of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, where Sam Raimi gave her crazy directions about how to fight off a ghost during one of the horror sequences in that film. Only for her, in a very bizarre and eccentric way, as Raimi is known for being, to make the most of it, and elevate it to a whole new level.
It’s that kind of connection, that kind of reception, of them being on the same wavelength, that made Sam Raimi go, “Hey, I need to work with this person again.” And I’ve gotta say, that wavelength was even more on point in this new film.
Send Help, which closed out that last weekend of January 2026 at the top of the international box office. In an era of unnecessary reboots, remakes, and sequels of films that have been made 100 times already, Sam Raimi has proved that original IPs with more modest budgets still have a place in the hearts of moviegoers with a career-high critics RT score of 93% and audience score of 87%.
Would I, as a die-hard fan of the man behind the Kandarian demon, go as far as to say that Send Help is one of the best, if not the, best film in Sam Raimi’s filmography? Most definitely not. However, I would say that it is a very excellent film; an excellent film that boasts a great script, two incredible performances, and gore and practical effects galore, as one would expect from Sam Raimi.
Send Help starts off by introducing us to Linda Liddle, played by none other than Rachel McAdams, who plays a vastly different role than one would be accustomed to seeing from her in Mean Girls or The Notebook. Far from a hot-shot diva, Linda is a geeky and downright off-putting character, whose awkwardness McAdams performs to perfection.
Linda is, at heart, a happy-go-lucky and good-natured person. She is committed to her “strategy and planning role” at the company where she works. This work ethic does nothing to prevent her from becoming the subject of ridicule at the workplace, especially when her boss’s son, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), inherits the company and denies her the promotion she was on track to receive in true nepotistic fashion.
While Linda is good at taking things on the chin, the humiliating manner in which this denial is delivered breaks her down to tears. Bradley still gives her an opportunity to prove her worth on a business trip to Bangkok, where Linda will help seal the deal with a foreign investment firm.
And that’s when all hell breaks loose.
Because we get a very intense plane crash sequence, one that even gives Final Destination, a run for its money which is where we first get our glimpses of Sam Raimi’s trademark adrenaline-pumping, wince-inducing, and downright disturbing mad creativity which will only increase as the film progresses.
The only two survivors of the crash are Linda and her boss, Bradley. Regarding Bradley, Dylan O’Brien does a phenomenal job playing the bratty, trust-fund-baby CEO. Bradley is unlikable and mean-spirited, though you will find yourself laughing with him in spite of yourself. Soon, Linda and Bradley’s relationship completely reverses, as Linda’s passion for Survivor prepared for the island. Bradley, who never stepped foot outside the concrete jungle, is now completely at her mercy for survival, a dynamic that Linda finds amusing and Bradley finds unbearable.
It really shows that Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien were the right leads for this movie, because 80% of the film is just focused on the both of them as they try to survive and struggle on this island given how character-driven this film is given its relatively small cast. When I say struggle, I’m referring mostly to Bradley as he has never seen a day of hard work in his life, meanwhile Linda has survival as a pastime and even auditioned for, and desperately wanted to be, a contestant on a Survivor-style show.
Which I love, because number one, it’s silly and fits her character, and number two, it explains why they’re able to survive on the island. Because in a lot of island movies, you just have random ordinary people figuring out how to make shelter and survive within the first day for the sake of the plot, which is basically a trope at this point. But in reality, most people who would end up stranded on an island would have a lot of difficulty adapting.
Because Linda is so prepared for adapting, the tables turn completely, and she’s in a position of power over Bradley… something Linda finds amusing and Bradley finds absolutely unbearable.
You might be asking how exactly this is a thriller other than the plane crash. Well, a lot happens that is quite unexpected that I’m not going to get into. The buildup to this grand moment, which turns the film into a full-blown thriller, is not boring at all. It’s not something you’re forced to sit through, unlike Midsommar, where two hours of a two-and-a-half-hour film are basically nothing until the ending everyone talks about.
If anything, the buildup might be the best part of the film, because the character writing is excellent, and it has to be when you only have two characters interacting for most of the runtime. It’s very smart, very subtle, and most importantly, very human. It’s quippy without having that “that just happened” air of modern movies, especially the gargantuan franchises like Star Wars or the MCU/DCU. The fact that the writing is funny and witty without being cringe is what allows the emotional moments, when they occur, to feel real and not shoehorned in just because they have to be there.
As for the aesthetic choices of the film, Bill Pope returns as cinematographer while Danny Elfman returns as composer both of which have worked with Raimi on films like Darkman and Spider-Man in the past. who has worked with Sam Raimi many times before, whether it be Darkman, Army of Darkness, or Spider-Man 2 and 3, and most recently the How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake, which was lauded for its impressive visuals. I also loved how the concept of “transitional colors” was displayed for both the characters’ costuming and the color grading, starting off as very bright and sunny but becoming more-and-more grim and “musty” as the film progressed.
It’s a gorgeous film to watch and hear. I personally watched it in Dolby Cinema, which only accentuated how beautiful the visuals were and how dynamic the shots were, especially the POV camera, which Sam Raimi practically pioneered in The Evil Dead films to represent the Kandarian demon which kept the frame as open as possible during many of the action/chase scenes.
And might I say, the practical effects used here are simply delicious. Sam Raimi has always insisted on using practical effects whenever possible. It’s often Christopher Nolan who’s referred to as the “practical-effects guy,” and deservedly so, but Sam Raimi is right up there as well. This film isn’t super big-budget, so it needed to use practical effects, and it worked to its benefit. Everything feels more visceral, real, and gritty.
Raimi really did get the gang back together, and it was the gang at their best. Even Danny Elfman, who, despite being one of the best composers in Hollywood during the ’90s and early 2000s, seriously fell off a cliff in recent years. Whether it be controversies, less-than-memorable ambient scores, or his arrogant remark that his “there has only been one Batman theme,” in reference to his, I was pleasantly surprised here. The main theme is really good, and the variations on it throughout the score are solid as well.
Otherwise, unfortunately a lot of it is still your typical post-2000s Danny Elfman. It gets the job done but isn’t very standout, apart from one track that uses bongos and choir and sounds a lot like the Green Goblin theme from the Raimi trilogy, but is hard to truly enjoy given that Elfman is practically infamous at this point for reusing motifs.
Finally, I want to touch on the moral aspect of this film. In many ways, this is a woman’s version of Todd Phillips’ Joker. A lot of socially awkward women have related to Linda’s character and projected themselves onto her, with her asserting herself over those who wronged her being a very cathartic experience.
However, much like Joker, the question is raised as to whether this behavior should be glorified. Raimi, like Todd Phillips, never preaches to the audience. He simply presents what is, what people can become, what unassuming people are potentially capable of, and whether circumstances justify a response, even if it’s an overwhelmingly negative one.
Along with that is the question of whether people really can change, or if they simply are what they have always been. When Aristotle wrote, “…virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions,” he was referring to how our habits make us who we are. So is a sudden change of heart really real, or is it simply someone making the best of their circumstances? And what if they do so through unvirtuous means?
These are the potent and very relevant societal questions asked by Send Help, which is why I believe that this movie will be an enduring classic and a subject of discussion for many years to come.