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, 2026. The film received positive reviews from critics, and has grossed $32.6 million against a $40 million production budget.
Plot
Meek corporate strategist Linda Liddle looks forward to a long-deserved promotion promised by her former boss, which his son Bradley Preston is obliged to give her upon becoming CEO of his family's financial management company. Bradley has already given the promotion to Donovan, his old college buddy. He intends to have Linda transferred to a dead-end position out of disgust for her boorish manner, lack of self-confidence, and unattractive appearance.
When Linda protests Bradley's decision, he asks her to accompany him, Donovan and two other executives on a business trip to Bangkok to finalize the company's impending merger. While flying through a storm, Donovan humiliates Linda by playing a clumsy audition tape she recorded for Survivor, showcasing her extensive survival skills. The plane suffers engine failure and begins to lose altitude. A panicking Donovan attempts to strangle Linda with her seat belt in order to take her seat before she stabs him in self-defense. The plane crashes into the sea and sinks.
Linda frees herself and wakes up the next morning on a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand. She finds Bradley with a badly injured leg, but no other survivors. Linda puts together a shelter and obtains food and water. Bradley accepts her help, but goes back to ordering her around. Linda responds by abandoning him for two days where he is unable to move, exposed to the hot sun, and has nothing to drink. Just as he collapses from thirst, Linda returns and gives him water. Bradley remains defiant and eventually tries to build his own camp. When his efforts fail, Bradley swallows his pride and allows Linda to boss him around. She notices a boat sailing offshore, but avoids attracting attention of the occupants, wishing to stay on the island.
Linda becomes stronger, more attractive, and confident, while teaching Bradley lessons in survival. 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 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 miscalculating the poison dose, is able to save him from drowning.
Linda paralyzes Bradley with octopus venom and pretends to castrate him as punishment, 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. Fearing her new life will be ruined, Linda lures Zuri onto a rocky cliff and pushes her and the boat captain off. Haunted by the murders, Linda allows Bradley to go out to hunt alone, whereupon he finds Zuri's corpse washed up on the beach.
When confronted, Linda admits to Zuri's murder. Bradley 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 aims 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 beats him to death with a golf club.
A year later, Linda has been rescued, and is a wealthy businesswoman after usurping control of the Preston family company. 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, 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 father, the former CEO of the financial company who appears in several photographs and paintings seen in Bradley's office.[8]
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 February4,2026[update], Send Help has grossed $24.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $8.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $32.6 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]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 211 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."[26]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[28][29]
IndieWire's Alison Foreman gave an A− for the film, and called it "wickedly lovable with the potential to be timeless."[30] 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."[31]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."[32]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."[33] 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."[34]
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."[35] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting wrote, "Send Help is full of vibrant personality, with all of Raimi's signatures."[36]
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