‘Send Help’ Is Fun, Old-School Sam Raimi, but Could Use Some Sharper Teeth [Review]
The best moments of Send Help are the ones that feel most like Sam Raimi: exciting, outrageous bursts of mayhem and cruelty that lean into the absurdity of survival. The film is at its best when it depends on the nastiness of revenge, sudden animal attacks, and the violence of an insane airplane wreck segment that is truly one for the books. These moments briefly take us into the realm of old-school Raimi, reminding us that death is a joke and need not be taken seriously all the time.
The story itself follows a corporate flight to Thailand that ends in catastrophe, stranding Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) and her new boss (Dylan O’Brien) on a remote, unforgiving island. The only survivors of the crash wash ashore, forced into a new power dynamic and unlikely alliance as they scavenge for food, shelter, and a way to stay alive in an environment that offers no mercy. As the days wear on, survival becomes less about the elements and more about each other. What begins as a fight against nature curdles into a psychological standoff, where manipulation, spite, and desperation threaten to be just as deadly as the island itself.
Much of the movie’s value lies in the undeniable talent and chemistry between its dual stars, Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. Their performances are top-notch, and their dynamic is gold, carrying long stretches where very little actually happens. McAdams and O’Brien are, without question, the film’s strongest assets. Both actors fully commit, grounding the sometimes silly scenario with sharp timing, chemistry, and physicality, which keeps the film watchable even when the narrative stalls.
McAdams specifically gives Linda a charming, brittle edge that slowly curdles into something harder and more dangerous, while O’Brien brings an anxious meanness that makes his character’s unraveling feel earned rather than sliding into cartoonish territory. Even when the script strands them in repetitive beats or prolonged downtime, McAdams and O’Brien find ways to inject tension, humor, and unpredictability into the exchanges.
Lest we forget the icon behind the madness, Send Help signals a healthy amount of its director, Sam Raimi’s, distinct style and menace throughout. Blood, pus, and other bodily fluids fly into faces, visions of the dead jump out of nowhere, and dead bodies are treated like Punch and Judy puppet shows. Still, these moments are too often undercut by the film’s reluctance to fully commit to being rude. Just as the violence or cruelty threatens to escalate into something truly outrageous, Send Help pulls back, softening the consequences and smoothing the roughest corners.
The problem is that those stretches often drift into near romantic-comedy territory, far from what should be a mounting survival nightmare. While the film flirts with grotesque imagery, those moments frequently retreat into a surprisingly safe, almost PG-13 register, blunting the impact of the madness.
One of the film’s most frustrating hurdles is its character structure. It plays out like a spy-versus-spy scenario, where neither side is particularly easy to root for. On one hand, you have a character unraveling into a wild, murderous presence. On the other hand, a social villain whose cruelty is even more grounded and, frankly, more repellent. The film seems aware of this imbalance but never fully reconciles it. By the end of the film, I was left a bit unsure who we were meant to be rooting for. Linda’s arc ultimately lands where it should, but several of her choices along the way detract from how satisfying that conclusion could have been. O’Brien is never meant to be the hero, yet he is more human than McAdams in the end.
Ultimately, Send Help is an entertaining and often funny ride, due in no small part to strong performances and an excellent opening. Yet it never fully commits to the teeth it keeps insisting it has. What remains is an enjoyable, uneven survival thriller that plays things safer than its premise suggests, and safer than its best moments prove it does not need to.
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Send Help
Summary
Sam Raimi’s ‘Send Help’ is a wild ride powered by top-notch performances, yet it never pushes its mayhem or cruelty as far as it should.