Send Help premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California on January 21, 2026, and was released in the United States by 20th Century Studios on January 30. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $83 million against a $40 million production budget.
Plot
Meek but hard-working corporate strategist Linda Liddle looks forward to a long-deserved promotion promised by her former boss, which she expects his son Bradley Preston to give her upon becoming CEO. Instead, Bradley gives the promotion to Donovan, a recent hire and his old fraternity brother, much to the dismay of senior executive Franklin. He intends to have Linda transferred to a dead-end position out of disgust for her boorish manner and lack of self-confidence and charisma.
When Linda protests Bradley's decision, he is impressed by her bravado and asks her to accompany him, Donovan, and two other executives on a business trip to Bangkok to finalize the company's impending merger. During the flight, Donovan humiliates Linda by playing a clumsy audition tape she recorded for Survivor, showcasing her extensive survival skills. Flying through a storm, the plane suffers engine failure and begins to lose altitude. As the cabin undergoes explosive decompression, a panicking Donovan attempts to strangle Linda and to take her seat before she stabs him with a fork in self-defense. Donovan, the rest of the passengers, and the flight attendant are blown out of the hole in the fuselage while Linda and Bradley are secure in their seats. The plane soon crashes into the sea, breaks apart on impact, and quickly sinks.
Linda frees herself and wakes up the next morning beached on a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand. She finds Bradley but no other survivors. Linda builds a shelter and obtains food and water. Bradley, unable to move due to an injured leg, accepts her help but continues to treat her like a subordinate. Linda responds by abandoning him for two days; just as he collapses from thirst, Linda returns and gives him water. Bradley remains defiant and tries to build his own camp. When his efforts fail, Bradley swallows his pride and allows Linda to take the lead. Linda is proficient at fishing and even manages to kill a wild boar. One day, while foraging on the other side of the island, she notices a boat sailing offshore, but deliberately avoids attracting the attention of the occupants.
Linda becomes stronger and more confident as she teaches Bradley lessons in survival. She appears smitten with Bradley, calling him "sweetie". One night, while sharing homemade fruit wine, Linda drunkenly confesses to Bradley that she was married to a man who abused her until she allowed him to drive drunk, causing his death. Seemingly moved, Bradley offers to repay Linda by cooking her dinner. He spikes the food with poisonous berries and attempts to flee on an improvised raft, leaving Linda to die. The raft is destroyed in the waves, and Linda, partially recovered due to Bradley's ignorance about the poison dosage, is able to save him from drowning.
As punishment, Linda paralyzes Bradley with octopus toxin and pretends to castrate him, explaining that with her career effectively over, she has nothing to return home to. Bradley finally accepts that the power dynamic has shifted and gives up hope of escape. While harvesting fruit, Linda is surprised by the arrival of Bradley's fiancée Zuri, who has hired a boat to rescue them after other search and rescue efforts were called off. Fearing her new life will be ruined, Linda leads Zuri and her boat captain to a rocky cliff where she earlier nearly fell; she secretly pushes both Zuri and the captain off. She returns to camp visibly depressed and haunted, and lets Bradley go out to hunt alone, whereupon he finds Zuri's corpse washed up on the beach.
When confronted, Linda admits to Zuri's death but says it was an accident. Bradley accuses Linda of lying, distrusting her because of her story about her husband, and tries to kill her. A brutal hand-to-hand fight follows, with Linda suffering a partially gouged eye before stabbing Bradley in the side. He flees and finds a luxurious beach house on the other side of the island. Linda admits to having known about the house and reveals she murdered Zuri, before aiming a shotgun at Bradley. Begging for his life, Bradley claims that he now loves Linda and wants to stay with her on the island forever, before grabbing the shotgun only to find it unloaded. Linda overpowers him and beats him to death with a golf club.
One year later, Linda has been rescued and is a wealthy celebrity after turning her survival story into a lucrative self-help career. She is interviewed at a celebrity golf tournament about the upcoming film adaptation of her best-selling memoir, in which she claims to be the only survivor of the plane crash. Linda drives away with her cockatiel Sweetie, singing along to Blondie's "One Way or Another".
Kristy Best as Polly Perera, a reporter who interviews Linda
Bruce Campbell makes photographic cameos as Bradley's unnamed father, the former CEO of the financial company who appears in several photographs and paintings seen in Bradley's office and had passed away at some point.[7]
Production
In October 2019, Columbia Pictures announced that Sam Raimi would direct an untitled horror film with Mark Swift and Damian Shannon writing the script.[8] The film would later be titled Send Help,[9] with 20th Century Studios attached to distribute.[10] In October 2024, Rachel McAdams entered negotiations to star.[11] Raimi had worked with McAdams in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and for considering her underutilized in said movie intended to bring her back in another project. He added that one of his producers advised that “the fact that she has not really played a dark, terrible villain before really sets the audience up to be surprised.” [12] In December, Chris Pang joined the cast.[13] In early 2025, Dylan O'Brien and Dennis Haysbert joined the cast, with McAdams confirmed to star.[14][15]Principal photography was scheduled to begin in January 2025.[16][17] Filming ultimately began that February, in Sydney, Los Angeles, and Thailand,[18] and concluded on April 17.[19]
Music
The soundtrack to Send Help was released by Hollywood Records on the same day as the film's release. The soundtrack contains 23 tracks composed by Danny Elfman.[20][21]
Send Help premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on January 21, 2026,[22] and was released in the United States on January 30, 2026, by 20th Century Studios.[23]
Reception
Box office
As of February23,2026[update], Send Help has grossed $56 million in the United States and Canada, and $28 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $83 million.[4][3]
In the United States and Canada, Send Help was released alongside Iron Lung, Shelter, and Melania, and was projected to gross $14–17 million from 3,475 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] The film made $7.2 million on its first day, including $2.2 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $19.1 million, topping the box office.[24][25] In its following weekend, it dropped 48%, earning $10 million.[26] The film made $8.9 million, and $4.5 million in its third and fourth weekends.[27][28]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 266 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Putting director Sam Raimi's penchant for diabolical mayhem to great use, Send Help doesn't need any assistance in thrills thanks to a very game Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien along with a viciously clever script."[29]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[31][32]
IndieWire's Alison Foreman gave an A− for the film, and called it "wickedly lovable with the potential to be timeless."[33] Michael Phillips of San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "At its simplest, we have here a performance showcase for O'Brien's artfully restrained sniveling and, especially, for McAdams' miraculous shape-shifting abilities. Essentially Send Help is Cast Away if Wilson the volleyball was a misogynist tool."[34]Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "It could be said that Send Help indulges in more baroque plot twists than fully necessary and begins to lose some steam toward the end. But the surprising climax, plus an amusing coda, brings it all home. Audiences are in for quite a ride."[35]Deadline's Pete Hammond wrote, "Send Help is the first movie gem of 2026, a devilish treat and welcome respite from the real world. It's a pleasure."[36] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times said, "From its cheeky score by the director's frequent collaborator Danny Elfman, to its darkly humorous tone and playfully yucky special effects, the movie is Raimi at his most gleeful and twisted."[37]
TheWrap's Amelia Emberwing wrote that the film is "a story rooted in the exploration of human nature and exactly who we become if it means survival both in the literal and figurative sense."[38] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting wrote, "Send Help is full of vibrant personality, with all of Raimi's signatures."[39]
↑Menon, Rahul (January 30, 2026). "'Send Help' - Review". Script Magazine. Archived from the original on February 16, 2026. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
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