This is a movie I had no intention of seeing. If it’s horror, I’m immediately out. But then I just kept hearing such great things about it. So much so that I felt compelled to face my fears and check it out. And I’m glad I did. There are gradations to horror. And the more movies out of my comfort zone I see, the more I learn about which aspects I can handle and which I cannot. A movie like Get Out is way more of a thriller to me than horror (which I can enjoy) but Us, also by Jordan Peele, really toes the line (I may have had a panic attack in the bathroom at the theater right before seeing that one). I think anytime something crosses into a paranormal haunting kind of thing or relies on constant jumpscares then it’s not for me. Sinners didn’t scare me at all, but Paranormal Activity, you can absolutely miss me with those. Silence of the Lambs, I watch plenty of serial killer TV shows so that doesn’t bother me as much. But more slasher serial killers like Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc. are definite nos. I guess I’m still trying to identify the specifics of my genre boundaries. Send Help has been classified as a “dark comic thriller”. I knew the general setup from the trailers but, after about 20 minutes, I had no idea what was going to happen next. That’s the fun of this movie, the unpredictability and the tone that lets you know they’re willing to go anywhere.

Send Help stars Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle, a middle-aged woman working in corporate America who is skilled at her job but constantly overlooked and underestimated because of her plain appearance and awkward social skills. After the head of the company dies, his nepo-baby son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) takes over the position and denies Linda the promotion she was previously promised. On a business trip to Thailand, the private plane crashes on a deserted island, leaving Linda and Bradley as the only survivors. Linda is incredibly skilled at survival techniques while Bradley is a lost cause. He becomes completely dependent on her and their power dynamics quickly shift. But we’re never quite sure where their allegiances lie, what their motivations really are, and who we can trust. Our sympathies are constantly switching back and forth as the two oscillate between allies and enemies. At the end of the day, they’re both entirely flawed and we’re rooting for them to do wrong as much as we’re rooting for them to do right. To achieve this, you need actors who both endear and repel you. And who can essentially carry the entire movie just as a pair. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are both up to the task. Rachel McAdams is an underappreciated talent who just feels so completely unleashed and wild in this role. The only criticism she’s gotten is that she’s too attractive for someone who’s supposed to be dowdy (very true). But I think she dials up the crazy enough for us to understand why her character is not a more popular person. I still think of Dylan O’Brien as more of a teen heartthrob, but I think he proves himself here as a legitimate actor ready for more adult roles. Overall, you can really tell they were both having fun with it which translates into fun for the audience.

Director Sam Raimi is a pillar of the horror genre (Evil Dead trilogy, original Spider-Man trilogy, Drag Me to Hell) but with his own distinct style inspired by comic books and slapstick comedy. Much of the movie employs a gonzo energy in its editing and shot selection, making it feel all the more fun and wild than flatout “scary”. There were only two real “horror” moments that used jumpscares, but even those were kind of goofy and cartoonish. The most horrifying element of the movie was how gross it was. Like really gross. I looked away for most of it, not out of fear but out of disgust. However, during one of the gross parts that wasn’t gory gross just gross gross, I actually couldn’t stop laughing. Which surprised me because I usually don’t enjoy that kind of thing at all. But this movie is really funny. Just the audacity of it. That it would even go to some of the places it does. It really gets the crowd going. My theater was super into it and vocal and I’ve heard the same thing from others too, even weeks after the initial release. For a film like this, that only heightens the viewing experience. I’m so glad I saw it in theaters because I don’t think it would have hit the same at home.

I saw someone say the film felt like a mix between Castaway and Misery. I don’t think I could give a more accurate description of plot and tone than that. There’s also, of course, lots of Lost in there as well. That’s just the first place my brain goes when a plane crashes on a remote, tropical island. But more than that, there’s the idea that maybe some people are better off in this environment than they were in the real world. That they really found who they were meant to be in this place and don’t want to leave (*cough cough* John Locke). Send Help is the perfect version of what a January movie could and should be: nothing too serious or too deep, just a fun, raucous, entertaining time at the movies.

2026 Count: 9 movies, 4 seasons of television, 0 specials