In the latest movie Send Help, an arrogant young boss named Bradley who got to where he is through nepotism isn’t a fan of one of his employees, Linda Liddle. She turns out to be in the running for Vice President due to her hard work with the company for 7 years and knowing her numbers and work stuff. The bossman gives her a chance to prove herself, and she ends up tagging along for an important business meet in Thailand via private jet. The jet crashes, and both of them are stranded on an island near Thailand. With not much help arriving anytime soon, both of them have to survive while tolerating each other.

The twist in this prologue above? This isn’t a romantic comedy, far from it. This is a film directed by Sam Raimi of Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell fame; a psychological thriller & horror flick with traces of black comedy in-between. And if you believe current gen cinema is mostly formulaic and too similar , let Send Help light up a beacon of hope.

S.O.S

From start to finish, each of the lead’s roles and characterisation are very on-the-nose but no less entertaining. Rachel’s Linda is socially awkward but a literal survivor (via being a fan of the TV show Survivor as well as learning the wilderness trade), while Dylan’s Bradley is silver spoon-in-mouth who knows his way around corporate culture, but knows jack all about being out on his own. While the film initially pits Bradley as being unlikeable as all hell -and who wouldn’t given his past position and attitude- the second half frames Linda differently from her can-do attitude, making it seem more like a character flaw which leads her to put her on the same level as Bradley in a way.

Most films would botch this turn of events -turning our supposed lead amoral- but Raimi and his team spared no expense in the close-to-two-hours flick and let their characters seep in the stranded-on-an-island tropes; vistas, setting up camp, exploration, the works. Both performances from Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien help carry the film immensely due to their charisma and chemistry, whether antagonistic or otherwise.

The film lays out its narrative in a way that you will eventually pick a side between the two, but let’s just say that it goes to slightly unexpected territory, given the revelations in the second half where Linda’s past is concerned. I do appreciate that the film requires us to pay attention to many details at the start of the film pre-island hijinxes so that the second half adds up more, and make you love/resent the characters for it.

This being a horror film and a Raimi production, we still get some nice gore, gross-out bits, and a jumpscare; highlights include Linda going hunting for the first time, Linda getting sick and helping Bradley at the same time, and a 2026 version of Hard Candy’s infamous scene but in the “stranded on an island” context. Raimi’s trademark scene transitions and first-person cam work from his past horror works do show up here, and feel natural in this survival tale.

No Cry For Help Here

Even at the cost of some shifts in tone that can be jarring, you can’t help but be invested in Sam Raimi’s latest movie and see where it all lines up. What started out as a mishap where a boss and an employee end up stranded on an island ends up becoming quite a mish-mash of drama, black comedy, and thriller, with a jumpscare or two just to remind us that the director did horror a while back. It’s clear as day that the film wouldn’t have worked without the stellar performances from Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, but Sam Raimi and his crew’s shake-up of the trope with their brand of thriller and horror just makes the journey all the more engrossing and its twists all the more delectable to accept (which may be divisive to some).

Also, major kudos to Disney and Fox’s marketing department for not revealing a lot of this film from earlier trailers.

Final Score: 80/100