A company vet who has just been passed over for an expected promotion finds herself stranded with her new boss on a deserted island in Send Help, an irresistible new thriller opening this weekend in Prague and cinemas worldwide. Despite an ending that feels far too safe for the movie that precedes it, game performances by Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien and some eye-popping filmmaking gusto make this director Sam Raimi‘s best film since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell.
Send Help stars McAdams as Linda Liddell, a committed but socially awkward office drone who chows down on a tuna fish sandwich during an early scene in a close-up so extreme it would make Sergio Leone squirm. Linda was promised a promotion by the recently-deceased company head (longtime Raimi collaborator Bruce Campbell, glimpsed only in photos), but her new boss, his son Bradley (O’Brien), has passed her up in favor of his dudebro college pal Donovan (Xavier Samuel).
Bradley finds Linda disgusting—a tuna transfer during an initial handshake sends chills down his spine—but manager Franklin (Dennis Haysbert) convinces him to bring her along during an upcoming trip to Thailand to help get Donovan up to speed. The corporate bros get a laugh out of Linda’s audition tape for Survivor—but Bradley’s not laughing when the plane goes down, and he and Linda are the only survivors on a deserted island.
Initially, Send Help is something of a cross between Misery and Cast Away: Bradley is largely immobile due to a leg injury, and Linda takes pleasure in exerting power over him while he’s in her care. Her time spent watching Survivor really pays off as she builds a shelter, collects rainwater, and hunts for food; she manages to kill a wild boar in one of the film’s most memorable moments, and while the realism of the CGI creature is never quite convincing, Raimi does a wonderful job incorporating it into his cartoonish style.
When Linda spots a boat on the other side of the island, she makes a key decision not to pursue rescue: she’s having too much fun. The screenplay, by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift (Baywatch, Friday the 13th) continually tests our allegiance to the character, and climactic scenes push her over any reasonable edge. But because Bradley was always a jerk, and McAdams is so compelling in this role, she manages to win us over against our better judgment.
Send Help immediately recalls the recent Triangle of Sadness, in which rich guests on a luxury yacht find themselves at the mercy of the help after they become stranded on a desert island. But where that movie went for dry social satire, Raimi is more interested in taking things over-the-top to gruesomely comedic effect. Still, those who have seen the Ruben Östlund film will have a sense of déjà vu as the narrative unfolds here.
Both leads hit just the right notes of camp, finding humor in cruelty without losing sight of the characters’ underlying desperation. McAdams gives a fearless, ego-free performance, leaning fully into Linda’s social ineptitude and simmering resentment, while O’Brien plays Bradley as a perfect avatar of entitled incompetence. While Raimi never pushes the film’s psychological elements as far as others might—“I’m not like you,” Linda insists when rebuking Bradley’s offer of sexual favor—it’s still a lot of fun watching these two actors play off each other as the days wear on.
Danny Elfman’s energetic score, pulsing rhythms and mischievous stings, keeps the film in constant motion, while cinematographer Bill Pope makes vivid use of Thailand’s beaches and jungles, transforming picaresque locations into a feverish playground of menace and slapstick. The film’s stylized look is unmistakably Raimi’s, packed with Dutch tilts, aggressive push-ins, and bursts of over-the-top gore—including one especially squirm-inducing moment involving an eye. It’s a reminder of how well Raimi’s cartoon logic meshes with physical horror when working outside the blockbuster superhero realm.
Still, Send Help isn’t without some frustrations. Linda’s ultimate motivation remains oddly murky, making it difficult to fully understand—or root for—her choices as the film reaches its climax; one key decision, especially, pushes the character past a believable breaking point. Bradley’s behavior, too, often feels dictated by narrative convenience rather than human instinct; his actions in key moments strains credibility, even within the film’s heightened reality. These issues don’t derail the film, but they do blunt its emotional payoff.
Even so, Send Help proves a wickedly enjoyable exercise in survival horror, one that pairs Raimi’s gleeful excess with sharp performances and a darkly comic edge. It also makes for an intriguing companion piece to Park Chan-wook’s recent corporate survival tale No Other Choice, though Raimi is far more interested in splatter and spectacle than moral reckoning. Uneven but consistently entertaining, Send Help marks a welcome return to form for a filmmaker who still knows how to splatter the screen with blood—and have fun while doing it.
