Linda Liddle is a hardworking office worker who is mistreated by her new boss Bradley. In a deadly plane crash, Linda and Bradley are the two survivors who end up on a remote island. While Bradley struggles with an injured leg and little outdoor experience, Linda thrives and puts her survival knowledge to use. As a result, the employee who Bradley treated so poorly now has his fate in her hands.

I went into Sam Raimi’s Send Help with modest expectations. It has a great director and it looked very interesting from the trailers, but it is still a movie that came out in January. Very rarely do movies that come out in January end up being great, but it seems like we get one great or at least pretty good movie each January. We already had 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple a couple weeks ago… and now we have this.

I had a good feeling that I was going to enjoy Send Help, but I never thought it would end up becoming an early contender for one of my favorite movies of 2026. This survival thriller had me on the edge of my seat, it had me laughing hard and it made me squirm. 

I really like survival movies and Sam Raimi injects his style to this movie to make it stand out from others. Raimi brings everything he has to the table here from dark comedy, juicy drama, plenty of survival thrills and an insane third act. I can see that he was inspired by several movies, particularly Rob Reiner’s Misery. In a way, this movie is like a dark version of Castaway mixed with a more comedic version of Misery. The movie still feels very original with how it tells its story and how it takes advantage of the island setting. I adore the story and writing of this movie which never gets boring.

At its core, Send Help is a movie about the consequences of mistreating people for petty reasons when in power. A lot of why Bradley ends up suffering at Linda’s mercy is because of how cruel he is to her at the company and even on the island at times. When she becomes more powerful than him, she does not hesitate to make him squirm. It is worth mentioning that Linda is not a saint and Bradley is not irredeemably evil, but if he was nicer to her then maybe things could have gone a bit better for him. 

Part of the reason this movie is always fun to watch is because of Rachel McAdams’ stellar performance as Linda Liddle. I was not prepared for the range, emotion and charm that McAdams would put into this survival-obsessed office worker. She is mesmerizing in this movie especially when her character becomes more unhinged.

 Every scene with Linda made an impact on me because McAdams cultivated one of the most engaging horror protagonists I have seen in a while. The best part is that it really feels like Rachel McAdams had the time of her life with this role. She should honestly get awards recognition for this performance and I am not kidding.

Dylan O’Brien is just as good as Bradley. O’Brien is particularly great at acting with his eyes, especially in two big scenes in particular. His dialogue delivery is on point, his physical acting is top-notch and his expressions tell what his character is thinking. O’Brien’s performance alone helps make Bradley go from being a one-dimensional jerk that the audience would want to see killed to someone who can come off as surprisingly pitiful and sympathetic. 

That brings me to another point: Linda and Bradley are great characters for this setting. They have beef with each other, they both do bad things to each other throughout the film and they are both very compelling to watch. Another great thing about them is that neither of them are fully in the right. Bradley is a huge jerk towards Linda, but Linda does some shady and cruel things once they hit the island. 

It makes the story and how it will end a lot more unpredictable. These are characters I would love to watch outside of a horror setting because I think they would be just as engaging in a different genre. It also helps that McAdams and O’Brien play off each other perfectly. It’s important to have good characters with an engaging conflict and Sam Raimi nailed that here.

Visually, the movie looks solid aside from some effects. Some of the special effects come off as cartoonish as well as the blood, but I think that it is more of a stylistic choice to represent the more horror-comedic tone. The cinematography by Bill Pope is gorgeous, featuring a lot of great color grading, unique and interesting compositions with visual storytelling and a dark atmosphere. I especially love the way some of the nighttime scenes look as they are full of creepy atmosphere. The island the duo are stuck on is beautiful as well and it looks real. I really love how the set design takes advantage of the survival theme in this movie.

The soundtrack is awesome too. The musical score by Danny Elfman fits both a typical island movie and a horror thriller. Elfman’s score helps give the movie an identity to stand on. Also, I love the needle drops with Blondie’s “One Way or Another,” and “Rip Her to Shreds.” They both fit the movie so perfectly, especially the scenes they play in.