Send Help (3 1/2 stars out of 4)
I imagine most of the people familiar with Sam Raimi fall into two groups. The more die-hard fan group know him for his “Evil Dead” movies, including “Army of Darkness,” which capped off a trilogy of campy, over-the-top comic horror films led by Bruce Campbell. The other group associates the director with the first Tobey McGuire Spiderman movies, which applied a more muted but still recognizable Raimi style to a checkered but memorable wave of superhero movies in the 2000s.
I’ve enjoyed all of these films, but I think my favorite Raimi effort is 2009’s “Drag Me to Hell,” a horror comedy about a young bank employee who gets cursed when she denies a loan extension to one of her clients. Alison Lohman is perfect as the sympathetic and adorable protagonist, and the combination of bonkers content and the film’s refusal to follow traditional story turns makes “Drag Me to Hell” a memorable and polarizing experience.
Maybe it’s the female lead, and maybe it’s because at least as of now there are no franchise plans, but “Send Help” reminds me of “Drag Me to Hell,” and it’s another example of the perfect Raimi recipe: bonkers when it needs to be, and just mainstream enough to give you time to catch your breath in-between.
The story follows a hard-working but overlooked office go-getter who gets stranded on a desert island with her nepo-baby boss. Rachel McAdams plays Linda Liddle, the corporate equivalent of the kid who did all the work in the group project, who might be on her way to CEO status if it weren’t for office nepotism and her complete lack of social graces.
As the film opens, Linda is just about to be passed over for a job she was promised before the company boss unexpectedly passed away, leaving the reigns to his clueless and undeserving son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien). Linda is clearly the most talented and deserving candidate, but she also comes off as a cat lady thirty years beyond her actual age, so it’s easy for the superficial Bradley to bring on one of his old college frat buddies in her place.
Still, one thing leads to another, and Linda manages to secure a spot on an important business trip on the company’s private jet along with Bradley and his entourage of yes-men. And when that flight meets with a premature end that dumps Linda and her young boss on a desert island, we get to learn more about one of Linda’s more interesting aspirations: to be a contestant on the long-running reality series “Survivor.”
What follows is an energetic and eccentric riff on a variety of common movie genres–most obviously the romantic comedy where the leads initially hate each other–and the results are a perfect forum for Raimi’s unique blend of comedy, horror, and at times shocking style. The opportunity is an almost literal sandbox for McAdams, who showcases any number of skills as the shrew who blossoms with the chance to finally live in her own element, and her performance just makes it that much more impressive that O’Brien is able to keep up with a few gem moments of his own.
The comic violence and gore will not be to everyone’s taste, especially during one sequence involving the effects of a poisoning attempt, but for those with a taste for the macabre, “Send Help” will be one of the most fun movies of 2026.
“Send Help” is rated R for scattered profanity, plus episodes of comic, gory violence.