Allowing horror buffs to take a break from haunted houses, serial killer stalks and cursed entities, Send Help is the survival-horror 2026 feature from acclaimed horror maestro director Sam Raimi, throwing audiences onto an isolated island to watch its terror unfold rather than the aforementioned cliche tropes.
If a unique change in horror setting and scenery wasn’t enough to garner anticipation towards watching the film, the director behind the film is beloved for assisting with moving the horror genre from the stylised, atmospheric, “the less you see the better” format which dominated the 1960s/70s towards the splatterpunk, hyperstylised, excessive and bloody layout which pushed the 1980s into horror royalty, through his feature debut Evil Dead in 1981.
As his 17th feature work, Send Help features The Notebook star Rachel McAdams and Teen Wolf heartthrob Dylan O’Brien sharing the stage in a piece written by Damien Shannon and Mark Swift, known for penning 2007’s fan-favourite Freddy vs. Jason and the 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th, described as “Cast Away meets Misery”.
McAdams appears as Linda Liddle, working in planning and strategy for O’Brien’s Bradley Preston, who has just inherited his father’s financial management company and massively undervalues Liddle. Followinga violent storm causing their work plane to crash into the ocean, the two find themselves stranded on a desert island. Over time, the new CEO slowly realises Liddle may be his only hope of survival, despite her unravelling well-being, which puts him at high risk just as much as being saved.
As previously mentioned, Send Help bursts through with a truly captivating, unique concept, offering itself up as a real refresher for horror lovers. Raimi’s attentive and experienced direction makes sure that not a movement of this idea is wasted or underused by delving wholly and consistently into its setting. The setting for the unfolding and impending terror, both psychological and gory, is beautifully captured and explored in vast panning shots beginning with Liddle standing on the sand and growing to display the island’s entirety, making her appear so small and insignificant in the overall context. To think such horrific acts can take place in such a breathtaking landscape speaks to the film’s creativity and refreshing genre/style vision.
Despite its creative setting and use of camerawork, Send Help is all about performances, with the two leads and their ever-evolving dynamic playing out onscreen serving as a definitive highlight. First things first, star McAdams triumphs in emotional versatility in her performance as an unappreciated, unseen, overworked woman placed straight at the bottom of the pecking order, evolving into the one in total control thanks to unbeatable knowledge and skill. When it comes to character design and costuming, McAdams’s Linda Liddle undergoes a somewhat Ugly Duckling to Swan or nerdy girl in a teen romcom transformation, starting awkwardly presented in greasy hair and unflattering cardigans with fish filling scattered across her lips, only to become a gorgeous, carefree, tanned survivor on the island, with bright curly hair and sparkling eyes in tow.
This physical progress coincides with the audience’s identification with the character. One second, we feel for her with her work isolation, unkept appearance and experiences with feeling undervalued and unwanted despite her brilliant work ethic, intelligence and commitment. We then get to happily cheer for her as she overthrows her boss when it comes to survival skills, smashing through the previously presented imagery in the office sequences, where men overthrow and dominate in an unequal patriarchal dystopia. However, we soon go back on this and begin to fear Liddle far into the time on the island, where it appears her psyche may be fracturing more by each passing day, and a palm tree is added to the shelter.
Working brilliantly right beside McAdams on the island, O’Brien holds his own in campaigning the fear, dread and anxiety that Liddle’s behaviour generates. Stepping straight off of previous performances in the biographical comedy film Saturday Night, the psychological black-comedy Twinless and the political thriller Anniversary, the actor completely sells it as the arrogant yet ignorant boss who only cares about himself and helping close friends get a leg up in the corporate world despite their absence of experience. O’Brien fully lets the hysteria loose towards the dooming conclusion, and it plays out as riveting to witness, setting a bursting flame to the luring roller-coaster the entire film has been presented as.
A real strongpoint to both central roles as a duo is how audiences can never sit comfortably with who they can or cannot trust. Raimi leaves us consistently unnerved and second-guessing once things on the island truly kick off, so much so that we feel just as isolated and unsafe as we would if we were stranded on a faraway island ourselves.
Additional sources of enjoyment derive from how the film knows when and how to pile on the squeamish gore in some heart-racing action sequences, while still maintaining the overall character development. Patterned and paced thoroughly well throughout Raimi’s film are some real Raimi-style scares and terrifying death sequences you have to witness in a packed-out cinema. Embedded within the towering jungle leaves, on top of the rocky mountains and on the bright sands are some striking twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Send Help also isn’t afraid to play around and experiment with genres and tones, with the film’s Wikipedia entry only just being edited from a “film” to a “survival horror film”, as there was previously a footnote offering the various gene citations previously attached as attempts to explain Raimi’s latest feature. This reads as both a positive and negative element in the grand scheme, showcasing ambition in direction yet causing the middle act to lose some momentum as it feels somewhat like an enemies-to-lovers arc in a romantic comedy. Viewers eager to see full-throttle horror unleashed in either a psychological or bodily torture manner may find their thirst not wholly quenched once they leave, despite the overarching strong points.
Overall, Raimi’s Send Help is a bold, unapologetically original and unmissable cinematic experience for 2026. It’s a fun and genre-bending piece with brilliant performances and stellar direction, which pays attention to every detail and thrives in its concept.
★★★★
In UK Cinemas on 6th February | Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Xavier Samuel, Dennis Haysbert | Dir. Sam Raimi | 20th Century Studios / 15
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