SEND HELP 🤩

PREMISE

An employee and her insufferable boss become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. Here, they must overcome past grievances and work together to make it out alive.

THE GOOD STUFF

RACHEL F****** McADAMS- Throughout all the years of watching Rachel McAdams do her thing, I don’t think she’s ever gotten the room to really cook like she’s cooking in this movie. She is an Oscar-nominated actress who has had real moments to shine over the years in supporting roles in major films. Has she had any leading roles that she has done very well? Before. But she’s never had a chance, really, to carry a film of any kind. She emphatically does that in this movie.

She carries every scene so well and gives this character so much depth. The journey of her character from a less confident version of Pam Beesly to the woman you see in the poster is a REALLY fun one. It sounds silly to suggest this is the career-best performance of this actress… But it is. She is truly remarkable in this movie.

RAIMI- Film is a director’s medium for a reason. Directorial trademarks are so imperative when adding to a great script. There’s nothing really unique about the story of send help. What makes it special all around is McAdams’s performance and the filmmaking idiosyncrasy of one Samuel Marshall Raimi. This movie is an extra-special treat if you are familiar with his earlier work. There’s a nightmare sequence in this movie that’s entirely out of the Evil Dead; there is a boar-hunting sequence that is done only in his way; and, of course, his signature close-ups and scene transitions. Raimi is still an elite directorial talent.

I remember watching Doctor strange and the multiverse of madness and thinking he had lost several steps. Um… My bad.

DYLAN O’BRIEN- It’s a bit tricky for me to discuss Dylan O’Brien at length. If I talk about any of his performances or any of the films he’s done, it’s going to sound like I hate the guy or that I think he doesn’t have any skill whatsoever. It’s not that the man isn’t good; it’s just that he’s never stood out. He’s done his job competently, but he’s always been the very definition of average. It sounds terrible to need to speak at length about his performance in this movie as if it is slacking in any way. It is not. He’s good. But he’s not special in a film with really special things going on.

THE BAD STUFF

BRADLEY PRESTON- This is the name of the man whom Dylan O’Brien plays in this film. A man whose motivations are so whacked out that he gets his life saved numerous times, and the plot cannot feasibly explain why he stays so antagonistic. I do understand that this character is meant to symbolize the kind of male ego these corporate types have in real life. I know that this character is perhaps meant to be that, more than an actual, realistic character. I get it. I truly do. But even still, this movie would have been even better than what it is had he been fleshed out just a little bit more.

THE UGLY STUFF

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This is a really great film that doubles as a missed opportunity. 2025 was the year horror films were recognized as Oscar-worthy. Not that it hadn’t happened before during award season with horror films, but 2025 felt different. 2025 felt as if horror was catching on to the mainstream in a different way. As of right now, the most Oscar-nominated film in the 97-year history of the Academy Awards is indeed a horror film about vampires. And that says so much about the state of things for this genre.

I say this because Send Help is as good a horror movie as almost anything released in the year 2025. It’s a bit campier; it doesn’t take itself as seriously, but I do think that had this film been released at any point last year, the stylings of Sam Raimi and the lead performance, especially of Rachel McAdams, would be no-brainers to consider including in the award show that is going to take place on March 15th. That may sound silly, considering that this movie was released in January. But trust me, this movie is way better than what it’s advertising itself to be. 

SEND HELP is in theaters now