Preamble

I almost feel this particular review does not need a preamble or introduction. It’s one of those pieces that speaks for itself. Even a talking point I had set aside for this preamble was organically integrated into the review. So, instead, to paraphrase Stan Lee- Sam Raimi. Nuff said. Have you seen Send Help? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

From a seemingly vintage 20th-century-looking fanfare to an ending title card, there’s a distinctly humble quality that pervades Send Help. This seems appropriate for a Sam Raimi feature. The famed American horror auteur has made his movies with a sense of puckishness and an eye for early cinematic comedy, such as the Three Stooges and Buster Keaton. And this continues to be the case with Send Help, a relentlessly entertaining return to form for the earnest court jester of horror cinema.

The 2026 movie is about a mousey and diligent corporate strategist, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), who is persistently overlooked and mocked at work. After her promised promotion is rejected by the new CEO, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), Liddle confronts her new boss. Despite not budging on his choice, he invites the longtime employee to join the team to secure a merger in Bangkok. Whilst there, their private plane suffers a nasty crash that results in Preston and Liddle being washed up on a remote island, where they’re forced to survive together.

Based on my audience reactions of squirms, audible gasps, loud guffawing, and generally talking to the screen (especially impressive considering how muted a British audience can be to most movies), Send Help is an effortless showcase for the power of the cinematic experience and its ability to enrapture an audience. This seems particularly heartening given Raimi’s persistent fights with the studio to release it theatrically.

Whilst the film is filled to the brim with Raimi touches, namely fast-motion demon POV shots, over-the-top gore, and violence with a tint of gonzo slapstick, his more understated camera moves really stuck with me, whether it’s a match cut of a swinging golf club, or a medium shots depicting Liddle as an almost super heroic Kraven the Hunter savagely dispatching a boar. These aspects are complemented by Bill Pope’s cinematography, whose use of light and shadow gives the central island location an ominous, striking quality. Likewise, Danny Elfman’s score is surprisingly jaunty with its use of a Spanish guitar that blends with choral work that accentuates Linda’s struggles throughout the picture.

The screenplay (courtesy of Freddy Vs Jason’s scribes- Mark Swift and Damian Shannon) has a lot going on. Between its framing as a pseudo-romantic comedy, workplace drama, and satire, there’s a lot of ambition. Not all of it works. This mostly comes down to the ending. Whilst the central reveal feels organic and earned, the ending’s ultimate meaning and point feel quite nebulous. Instead, it exists as an ironic, karmic twist of fate that has graced other horror films (including Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell).

This is a shame, as Rachel McAdams plays the notes of her final moments quite well, accentuating the film’s central quandary: are monsters born or made? By taking the closing scene as gospel, the movie seems to suggest yes to the latter, resulting in Linda becoming Raimi’s most complex protagonist. But it does not negate a sense that a reel or two was missing from the picture. There’s no emotional truth in the final moments. Instead, it suggests a cycle of how the downtrodden will always rise up against their superiors and supplant them. In this regard, Send Help feels quite timely, but never rises above solid (aside from McAdams’s central performance and Raimi’s direction).