Send Help marks a sharp and entertaining return to contained, character-driven horror for director Sam Raimi (Spiderman, A Simple Plan, Drag Me to Hell). Here, the veteran filmmaker successfully blends survival-thriller tension with his signature flair for cruelty, dark humour and escalating psychological pressure, managing to deliver a film that is as uncomfortable as it is compulsively watchable.
Written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, Send Help traps its audience on a deserted island alongside its two leads, staging a battle of wills that refuses to let either emerge on top. Rachel McAdams stars as Linda Liddle, a more than capable employee in her company’s Planning & Strategy Department who is routinely undermined and humiliated by her boss, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien).
Bradley, the newly appointed CEO and beneficiary of blatant corporate nepotism, is a smug, insecure rich boy who has never held a serious job in his life and is painfully unprepared for leadership. Linda is sidelined by him and his newly assembled all-male team, despite having been promised a promotion by Bradley’s late father. Instead, she is encouraged to “prove herself” on a business trip to Asia for a major merger.
When their plane crashes during a violent storm, Raimi strips away corporate hierarchy entirely, stranding the pair on a remote island and forcing survival to replace professionalism as resentment begins to boil over. What begins as a relatively straightforward survival narrative gradually mutates into something far more unsettling. Raimi excels at turning mundane obstacles like hunger, injury and exposure into instruments of psychological horror.
McAdams delivers a tour-de-force performance, playing sharply against type as Linda’s transformation from restrained professionalism to obsessive vengeance is laid bare with remarkable control. O’Brien is equally compelling, leaning into Bradley’s volatility and entitlement while allowing flashes of vulnerability that complicate what could otherwise have been a one-note antagonist.
The film is clearly invested in interrogating power dynamics, particularly those shaped by gender and corporate authority. However, Send Help loses a few feminist points by the direction it ultimately takes with Linda’s character. As the tension escalates, she is increasingly framed as an unhinged, almost feral maneater – a figure seemingly unaware of her own instability. While this turn may be intended to subvert expectations or critique the corrupting nature of power itself, it risks undermining the film’s earlier, sharper observations about sexism in the work place.
Raimi’s direction remains confident and playful, employing sudden tonal shifts, unsettling camera angles, and bursts of visceral violence that recall his earlier work while allowing the performances room to breathe. His film is a gripping, often brutal exploration of power, control, and survival. Even when its thematic ambitions falter, its pacing, performances, and relentless tension ensure it remains a deeply unsettling and effective piece of horror.
