The script, by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, buffers its rage with a very funny streak of pitch black humor. They’ve crafted a cross between Lina Wertmüller’s controversial 1974 desert island satire “Swept Away” and the Stephen King horror movie, “Misery.” “Send Help” exchanges Wertmüller’s class-based war between a rich woman and a poor man for a tale of workplace politics. However, they adhere to the battle of the sexes concept while shifting the power dynamic. And of course, they keep the desert island.
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Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle and Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston in “Send Help.”20th Century Studios
After a 26 year absence from R-rated filmmaking, Raimi’s homecoming is a reason to celebrate. Not that he was sitting on his laurels; “Drag Me To Hell” is easily the most gruesome PG-13 rated movie ever made. Like that film, “Send Help” focuses on a female protagonist in the most dire of straits. Both films also have titles that should be taken literally.
As Linda Liddle, Rachel McAdams reunites with her “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” director. Linda is a socially awkward Strategy and Planning department employee who is preternaturally good at crunching numbers. Her gift for seeing trends and creating impressive reports highlighting them made her indispensable to the CEO of consulting firm Preston Industries.
Her seven years of hard work put her in line for a promotion to vice president once the CEO’s dudebro son (and Linda’s secret crush), Bradley (Dylan O’Brien from “Twinless”), takes his late father’s position. Unfortunately, Bradley thinks otherwise. He promotes his frat brother Donovan, (Xavier Samuel) a guy who’s been at Preston only six months, to vice president. Donovan has been passing off Linda’s reports as his own, and the boys’ club-style environment lets him get away with it.
Bradley also interviews women based on what they look like, hinting that their job description includes sexual activity. Never mind that he’s engaged to the statuesque Zuri (Edyll Ismail), who flashes her enormous diamond ring in Linda’s face as if she knows Linda has a thing for her man.
Dylan O’Brien in “Send Help.”Brook Rushton/20th Century Studios
Meanwhile, Bradley’s advisor Franklin (Dennis Haysbert) advocates for Linda by suggesting that she attend a crucial business meeting in Bangkok. Since she knows the numbers far better than Donovan, Bradley reluctantly invites her while barely hiding his disdain.
While on the company jet, Donovan shows Bradley and his buddies a video he discovered. It’s Linda’s audition tape for “Survivor.” She’s a huge fan of the reality show; in an earlier scene, we see her watching an episode with her pet parrot. This should have been Bradley’s first clue that she may know something about being a survivalist.
Instead, the guys humiliate Linda with their mocking laughter. She’s hurt, but the guys are about to be reminded of that famous adage: God don’t like ugly. When violent turbulence hits the plane, Linda is the only one who puts on her seatbelt. The guys think seatbelts are woke, which is why they’re all sucked out of the plane when a gigantic hole is blown in the fuselage.
Dylan O’Brien and Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in “Send Help.”Brook Rushton/20th Century Studios
Or so Linda thinks. She’s the first person to wash up on the deserted island that serves as the film’s second act setting. A day or so later, Bradley washes up, too. After being nursed back to health by a surprisingly knowledgeable Linda, Bradley treats her like dirt. She reminds him that he won’t survive long enough to be rescued because he does not possess her skillset. Bradley’s ego needs some serious humbling before he’s willing to accept orders from a woman.
From here, “Send Help” becomes a two-hander with characters whose actions will make you shift allegiances more than once. When it becomes clear that they may not be rescued, things get ugly—and hilariously grotesque. You can probably figure out where the movie is headed, but that doesn’t make the journey any less fun. The bloody battle between Linda and a wild boar provides the first big thrills of 2026.
Though the two actors have great chemistry together, O’Brien is better when he’s a hissable villain than when he’s appealing to Linda’s better nature. McAdams fares better on the island when the tables are turned. It’s hard to convince anyone that Regina George from “Mean Girls” is a frumpy loser, so her office scenes aren’t as cringe-inducing as they should be. One of the funniest running jokes in “Send Help” is how, once on the island, Linda inexplicably looks more and more gorgeous, while Bradley starts to resemble Robinson Crusoe.
Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in 20th Century Studios’ SEND HELP.Brook Rushton/20th Century Studios
“Send Help” joins “No Other Choice” in the latest trend of brutal thrillers based on job-related trauma. Real-world frustrations about unemployment and being forced to stay in a toxic workplace must have something to do with these movies being made. The rage expressed onscreen is understandable, and even cathartic. We can live vicariously through the vengeance of others.
I mean, it’s one thing to feel a pleasant sense of schadenfreude when one of Linda’s tormentors gets sucked out of that plane. But Raimi knows it’s even more stimulating to our lizard brains to see his tie get stuck on a jagged piece of metal while his body repeatedly slams and splatters against the plane window. After several seconds of this carnage, Linda pulls down the shade, obscuring our view and earning the biggest laugh in this delightfully mean-spirited and satisfying movie. Welcome back, Sam.
★★★
SEND HELP
Directed by Sam Raimi. Written by Damian Shannon, Mark Swift. Starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Xavier Samuel, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert. At AMC Boston Common, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 113 min. R (squeamish viewers will need an S.O.S.)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.
