Rachel McAdams has been acting for more than twenty years, yet she still feels slightly underrated. Most people know her from romantic films like The Notebook or comedies like Mean Girls, but her career is much wider than that. She has moved easily between drama, comedy, thrillers, and even television, always staying grounded and natural. In Send Help, she delivers what may be the strongest performance of her career.
Directed by Sam Raimi, Send Help is a strange mix of dark comedy, survival thriller, and horror. It is violent, funny, uncomfortable, and often unpredictable. The story begins as an office satire and slowly turns into a brutal island survival story, full of blood, power games, and twisted humor. It is one of those films that keeps changing direction just when you think you understand where it is going.
McAdams plays Linda Liddle, a hard-working but ignored corporate employee. She is cheerful, awkward, and often dismissed by the people around her. Linda was promised a promotion that never comes. Instead, the company is taken over by Bradley, the arrogant and spoiled son of the former CEO, played by Dylan O’Brien. Bradley quickly makes it clear that he does not respect Linda or see her as leadership material. To keep her quiet, he invites her on a company trip to Thailand. That decision changes everything.
On the way, the company plane crashes in a violent storm. Almost everyone dies in an over-the-top, shockingly graphic sequence that feels very much like Raimi enjoying himself. Linda and Bradley are the only survivors. They wash up on a small island with no help coming anytime soon.
From this point on, the film becomes a battle of survival and control. Linda turns out to be capable, practical, and surprisingly tough. Bradley, who looked powerful in the office, is useless without modern comforts and badly injured. The balance of power slowly shifts. Linda becomes the one in charge, while Bradley must depend on her to stay alive.
What makes the film work is how often that balance changes. Just when Linda seems fully in control, something happens that puts Bradley back on top. The film never allows the audience to relax. It constantly asks who deserves sympathy and who deserves punishment. Sometimes the answer is both. Sometimes it is neither.
McAdams completely disappears into the role. Her body language, voice, and physical commitment sell the character in a way that makeup alone never could. O’Brien also surprises, moving beyond his charming image and leaning fully into cruelty, fear, and desperation. Together, they create a tense and often disturbing dynamic.
Raimi’s direction is energetic and playful, even when things get extremely violent. The film uses exaggerated effects, sudden shocks, and moments that feel almost unreal. Some of the CGI is obvious, but it feels intentional, adding to the film’s strange tone rather than hurting it. One particular jump scare stands out as one of the most effective in recent years.
At its core, Send Help is about power, survival, and how quickly roles can change when systems collapse. It starts as a story about workplace injustice and ends as something far darker and more primal. By the time the film reaches its final act, it no longer feels like a comedy at all, but something sharper and more dangerous.
Send Help is messy, cruel, funny, and bold. It will not be for everyone, but it is never boring. Most importantly, it reminds us just how good Rachel McAdams really is when given the space to go all the way.