2026 is off to one hell of a start with Sam Raimi’s Send Help. This is the type of genre moviemaking that should have audiences screaming, jumping, and laughing from scene to scene.
Raimi earned his place in cinema history with his inaugural film as director, 1981’s The Evil Dead; a striking debut that (along with the 1987 sequel) announced an original cinematic voice in the horror genre. Both movies were blood-soaked thrill rides offering audiences unique scares mixed with the most macabre humor.
After 1990’s entertaining, but under-seen, Darkman and a so-so third Evil Dead entry (1992’s Army of Darkness), Raimi set his sights on versatility. Throughout the 90s, the filmmaker would test himself in different genres and wouldn’t return to the world of horror until 2009’s superb Drag Me to Hell. Six years later, 2015’s Ash vs. Evil Dead television series proved Raimi’s old-school horror inventiveness was still alive and now, his latest horror excursion stands as one of the most entertaining films of Raimi’s 45 year career.
Send Help is a witty and twisted takedown of power dynamics in the modern era, wrapped in a horror-thriller shell. Rachel McAdams does some of her finest work as Linda Little, a somewhat tremulous woman who works for a major company’s strategy department. Linda is a manager, although none of the employees respect her title, nor do they acknowledge her as a person. There is no question that she is smarter than all of her colleagues, but Linda’s lack of self-esteem keeps her at bay from inter-office human connections.
Things go south when the head of the company dies and the position passes to his son, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), the type of sexist “bro” vulgarian who causes women to cover their drinks. Before the CEO’s demise, Linda was promised the VP position. Unfortunately, Brad takes an immediate dislike to her and gives it to one of his less-qualified buddies. In a moment that is all too real in 2026 America, Bradley tells Linda that she couldn’t succeed within the higher positions of corporate leadership, implying that he believes “boss level” is no place for a woman, let alone one he isn’t attracted to.
Written by Damien Shannon and Mark Swift, the film takes some good swipes at white male privilege in and out of the workplace. Raimi never lets the film get too serious, but these opening moments have bite.
Linda is asked to join Bradley and two of her coworkers (including the one who stole her job) on a business trip to Japan. As she sits alone in the back of the plane working tirelessly on a proposal that will help the company, Bradley and his bros act like they’re going on a trip to Las Vegas. A violent storm causes the plane to crash into the ocean near an island off the coast of Thailand. The only survivors are Linda and her boss.
Bradley is seriously injured and Linda reveals herself to be quite the survivor. As it happens, she is a huge fan of the Survivor television show and has been preparing for an audition. Linda’s skills kick in immediately and the meek and awkward woman from the film’s opening section becomes both hero and savior. Linda begins to build shelter, hunt for food. and shift the dynamic between herself and her chauvinist boss.
This is where Send Help becomes a vicious and bloody riff on Lina Wertmüller’s 1974 class warfare classic, Swept Away. Male dominance finds a brutal reversal, as Linda becomes more confident and aggressive, but only when Bradley tries to assert his authority. One nasty moment finds him “reminding” Linda that she is his underling. As the two verbally wrestle for dominance, Bradley understands he is no match for Linda’s superior survivalist instincts. What follows is Sam Raimi gleefully toying with his audience. As these two fight to survive the elements, the screenplay hints that Linda and Bradley could find common ground, as they are both starting over equally.
While our two leads bicker, have sometimes meaningful chats, and brave the dangers of the elements, Sam Raimi finds that ol’ Raimi spark. The picture is filled with exuberantly creative sequences designed for pure popcorn-chomping entertainment.
Linda’s hunt for a wild boar results in some old-fashioned Sam Raimi blood splattering. There are scenes of ghostly horrors, cartoonishly brutal violence, and a few twists worthy of Alfred Hitchcock; one of the director’s major influences. As in all of his horror movies, Raimi knows the right moments to unleash the bloodletting and always finds the right comedic beats that never offset the film’s tone.
McAdams flawlessly navigates her character’s transformation. When Linda washed up on the island, she was meek and broken. As she stands upright and gets her bearings, Linda evolves into a real survivor and a woman who tests the parameters of her own morality. What is good and what is just become blurred, even for Linda. The necessity for survival (at all costs) takes precedence. Unleashing a vital warrior spirit, Linda becomes a modern King Learoyd from the Pierre Schoendoerffer novel, Farewell to the King.
The film’s action is wrapped in a wonderful Danny Elfman score. The composer creates bold and effective compositions. These are not just music queues masquerading as a film score. Elfman has always understood the essence of composing for films. His long-standing partnership with director Tim Burton has produced some of the best film scores of the 80s and 90s. Elfman’s influences of Bernard Herrmann and Nino Rota can be heard in his work for this film. The drums are never thunderous (a common mistake for modern horror films) and his use of oboes and piano strikes highlight the film’s tension. In a modern era of unmemorable scores, Elfman returns us to those thrilling days of yesteryear where the music was its own character.
From the performances to the craft and on through the scares and thrills and social subtexts of the screenplay, this is high-energy genre filmmaking from one of the best directors of his generation.
Send Help is a visceral experience done with an explosive energy. Sam Raimi wants viewers to have fun and there are enough gags, shocks, and splattered blood to get the job done.
Send Help
Written by Damien Shannon & Mark Swift
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Xavier Samuel, Dennis Haysbert
R, 113 Minutes, 20th Century Studios, Raimi Productions, TSG Entertainment
