Send Help (2026) but its not really necessary— please take your time... I mean it.

Linda Liddle's (Rachel McAdams) time has finally come for her big promotion at her consulting job but the new nepo baby CEO, Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien), ain't having any of it. Bradley can't help but get hung up on Linda's antisocial, messy appearance, and anxious ticks to the point that not only is he not promoting her but he's firing her as soon as the business trip for the Bangkok merger is complete. Little did they all know, business deals and promotions are the least of their worries as their private jet crashes in the middle of the ocean.

Linda wakes up washed ashore on a deserted island and the only other survivor is her dickhead boss, Bradley. Linda quickly establishes herself as the new boss as her hobby of being a survival enthusiast comes to its fullest potential as Bradley quickly loses it from this power shift and frustration of no rescue yet. Linda uses her skills to try to hold Bradley in line as her dark secrets slowly come to light, rocking their relationship dynamic back and forth like a raft on the ocean.

Rachel McAdams as the frumpy office worker Linda is what makes this film shine like an oversized engagement ring. We watch as her character transforms into this Amazonian-esque survival queen but also see how far she is willing to go to keep this new strange life going. Dylan O'Brien's character, Bradley, on the other hand is quite one dimensional but he still does a great job playing a guy we all have dealt with and hate deep down within ourselves.

Sam Raimi helms this survival/horror/comedy which is what drives this Cast Away (2000) meets Misery (1990) particularly in the comedy elements with his signature splat stick with gross out violence that is pushed to such an extreme that it becomes funny (the boar hunt scene in particular) which helps break up the highly predictability of the film's story. There are moments though Raimi's silliness gets in the way that produce frustrated groans (the ghost turning directly to the camera to scream) this is also made obvious with multiple scenes playing heavily on the 3D elements for that alternate release. Even with these complaints it does feel like Raimi is back and hopefully the box office pulls ahead enough to send a clear message to him and the production companies we want more good for her films like this.

Send Help may not be a perfect film but it does something that so many Hollywood films seem to forget how to do though— an entertaining crowd pleaser of a film that can still surprise at moments and create literal laugh out loud moments for the entire audience.

★★★½