A defining hallmark of Sam Raimi’s directorial career is his remarkable fluidity across genres. Since bursting onto the scene with the 1981 horror masterpiece The Evil Dead, he has consistently defied categorization. Whether tackling gritty westerns, high-stakes thrillers, poignant baseball dramas, or massive superhero spectacles, a “Raimi film” is less about a specific genre and more about his unmistakable, kinetic stylistic thumbprint.
Send Help
Release Date: January 30, 2026
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Written By: Damian Shannon & Mark Swift
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Edyll Ismail, and Chris Pang
Rating: R for strong/bloody violence and language
Runtime: 113 minutes
That said, there is a part of me—perhaps an indulgent one—that wishes Raimi would abandon his eclectic exploration and commit solely to the macabre. He possesses a rare, visceral talent for the frightening that he taps into all too infrequently. Send Help, his first full-blooded horror offering since 2009’s Drag Me To Hell, serves as a potent reminder of his prowess. It is a delightfully grim, stomach-churning triumph.
While Rachel McAdams may have been underutilized in Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she is absolutely revelatory here. The film takes the skeletal structure of Lina Wertmüller’s Swept Away, excises the romance, and replaces it with the claustrophobic dread of Misery. It’s a spiteful, clever piece of cinema that deconstructs gender and class hierarchies through a lens of dark fantasy, providing a high-tension experience peppered with moments of wicked humor.
McAdams portrays Linda Liddle, a brilliant but socially isolated woman whose “nerdy” demeanor alienates her peers. Her aspirations for professional advancement are crushed when her boss passes away, leaving the company to his obnoxious, silver-spoon son, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien). Bradley immediately bypasses Linda for a major promotion, handing the role to an unqualified crony instead.
In a hollow gesture of compensation, Bradley brings Linda on a business trip to Bangkok, intending to terminate her employment once they arrive. However, fate intervenes when their plane plummets from the sky. Stranded on a remote island as the sole survivors, the power dynamic shifts violently. Bradley is incapacitated by a leg injury and utterly devoid of practical skills; Linda, a devoted enthusiast of survivalist reality TV, suddenly finds herself holding all the cards. Her former tormentor is now entirely at her mercy.
A Subversive Revenge Tale Rooted in Character Conflict
In the hands of another director, this premise might have devolved into a predictable romantic drama about overcoming differences. But Sam Raimi and screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have no interest in such sentimentality. Send Help is a revenge film at its core—a symphony of psychological and physical retribution that offers a cathartic punch perfectly tuned for 2026.
The narrative succeeds because it avoids simple moral binaries. Bradley is more than just a caricature of a “nepo baby”; the script unearths layers of his character that make his flaws feel grounded. Similarly, Linda is no pristine martyr, and the film doesn’t shy away from her more questionable choices. Despite a slight mid-film pacing lull, the movie remains consistently gripping as the protagonist outmaneuvers her adversary, who stubbornly refuses to evolve.
McAdams and O’Brien Deliver Powerhouse Performances
The film’s success rests heavily on its two leads, who carry the vast majority of the runtime. Both McAdams and O’Brien bring exactly the right kind of charisma to their roles. While it initially requires some suspension of disbelief to accept McAdams as a social outcast, she leans into the “bird mom” energy with such sincerity that her eventual transformation into a hardened survivor feels earned and exhilarating.
Dylan O’Brien takes on the unenviable task of being thoroughly loathsome. He avoids cartoonish villainy, instead imbuing Bradley with the recognizable arrogance of a man who feels entitled to the world without ever having worked for a piece of it. He perfectly captures the cocktail of fear, rage, and entitlement that surfaces when his unearned authority is stripped away.
Classic Raimi: A Masterclass in Stylistic Nastiness
Fans of Raimi’s signature “splatstick” sensibilities will find much to love here. It’s clear the director relished the opportunity to get messy again, as the film is packed with the kind of inventive, grisly sequences that only he can deliver. The cinematography and editing are uniquely energetic, ensuring the audience never forgets whose vision they are witnessing.
From a harrowing, masterfully executed plane crash sequence to the visceral details of island survival—including a boar hunt and a jaw-dropping final showdown—the film serves a steady diet of high-quality practical effects. It’s a testament to Raimi’s enduring skill that, even 45 years after The Evil Dead, he can still make an audience squirm with such precision. Send Help was well worth the nearly two-decade wait, further cementing Sam Raimi’s legacy as a titan of genre filmmaking.
