January has always been known as one of the quietest months for the theaters, primarily due to the complete garbage that studios drop in this month. January 2026 may very well be the best January at the movies that I can remember, and no smart part of that is Sam Raimi’s “Send Help.”
To put it bluntly, “Send Help” is some of the most fun you can have right now in the theaters. “Send Help” is about a woman named Linda Liddle, played by Rachel McAdams, who gets stranded on an island due to a plane crash with her boss, Bradley Preston, played by Dylan O’Brien.
The premise is basic, but it allows us to get right to all the fun island horror. The only fundamental flaw that the movie has is that it takes 20 minutes or so for them to crash on the island, and it is a bit slow until they arrive there.
Once on the island, the movie really finds its footing. McAdams is one of the most under-appreciated stars working today, and she is so fun here. She’s very funny, and the most crucial part is how much you can root for her as the movie relies on that, given the fact that she’s trapped on an island with her awful boss. Speaking of, O’Brien also holds his own here and is the perfect smarmy idiot that is so easy to root against.
As the movie progresses, both characters get crazier and crazier, building to one of the funniest bits in recent memory. The horror bits here aren’t as scary as they are more humorous. Multiple scenes have jump scares of the most random zombie corpses, and the way that Raimi incorporates these always had me laughing.
What makes the movie for me, outside of the actors, is Raimi’s direction. Raimi started his career with the indie film “The Evil Dead,” and his iconic touch is still present even 45 years later. From the point-of-view camera shots to the way that Raimi soaks his actors in blood, guts, mud and goop. His signature blend of comedy and horror is at its greatest here as well, and it is honestly refreshing to see something with this much goofy energy.
Powered by Raimi’s kinetic and energetic direction with two super fun performances with McAdams and O’Brien, it is hard to think of a movie that is more fun this year, even with the slower beginning.
8/10
