Rachel McAdams Reigns Supreme in Sam Raimi’s Latest Slice of Madness ‘Send Help’

Rachel McAdams Reigns Supreme in Sam Raimi’s Latest Slice of Madness ‘Send Help’

By Alex McPherson

At its best when fully leaning into uninhibited mayhem, director Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” is a knowingly loony, if broad, satire elevated by Dylan O’Brien and a deviously crazed Rachel McAdams.

We follow Linda Liddle (McAdams), a nerdy, socially awkward, yet skilled longtime employee at a consulting firm who — despite being far more knowledgeable at her job than the slick-haired men that surround her — is underappreciated. She doesn’t have many friends and most of her meaningful conversations are with her pet cockatoo.

She’s also a trained survivalist and has recently applied to be a contestant on the reality show “Survivor.” Linda hungers for more recognition, and the company’s CEO Franklin Preston (Bruce Campbell) recently promised her that she’d be Vice President one day. Preston has suddenly passed away, though, and the reins of the company fall to his son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), who has zero interest in following through on his father’s promise. 

Bradley, pompous and sexist, is repulsed by Linda’s appearance and efforts to assert herself. Instead of promoting her, he installs fellow frat brother and golfing buddy Donovan (Xavier Samuel) as VP. As consolation before firing her for good, Bradley gives Linda one last assignment to “prove herself” by traveling with his boys club to Bangkok to close a major merger — she is an expert number-cruncher, after all. 

While aboard the private plane en route, Linda toils away on a work document. Bradley and his bros are not working; instead they are watching Linda’s “Survivor” audition tape and loudly snickering.

Before Linda finally snaps, a violent thunderstorm sends the plane spiraling into the ocean, killing everyone onboard in gratuitously violent (and, admittedly, quite funny) fashion. Linda barely survives and washes ashore on a nearby deserted island — a prime place to make use of her survivalist skills.

Bradley also survives and washes ashore (with a messed-up leg). Despite continuing to treat Linda terribly, he realizes that he needs her to live. Linda takes almost too much pleasure in this new power dynamic and lifestyle; it’s unclear whether she wants to be rescued at all.

Both Linda and Bradley harbor persistent hatred towards each other despite their burgeoning friendship. As the days pass, tensions escalate, as both of these damaged souls vie for dominance over each other through bloody one-upmanship. 

What begins as a rather tame dramedy evolves into something much gnarlier and more cynical. “Send Help” isn’t a revolutionary film, and it doesn’t have anything particularly incisive to say, but it’s a nasty and enjoyably twisted return to form for Raimi. It wouldn’t work anywhere near as well without O’Brien and McAdams’ sheer devotion to every twist and turn. 

McAdams in particular really sells this heightened premise. Mark Swift and Damian Shannon’s screenplay sends her on quite the journey from meek nerd to resourceful leader to someone who has fully lost her marbles. It’s great fun watching McAdams lean into Linda’s quirks and neuroses, bringing a happy-go-lucky energy that’s just as quick to stab you in the back (or anywhere on the body).

We want Linda to succeed and get her revenge against Bradley, but part of the twisted fun of “Send Help” is exploring just how far she will go, and how long we’re willing to support her along the way.

O’Brien is pitch-perfect as the smug man-child Bradley, who couches nearly every “dialogue” with a patronizing, better-than-thou tone. Swift and Shannon’s script does an excellent job portrayinging the ways that power-hungry bosses treat their employees, making even Bradley’s most callous moments ring true.

Of course, watching Bradley become wholly dependent on Linda for his survival is satisfying; yet, as “Send Help” reiterates repeatedly, there’s no easy way to resolve their deep-seated mutual hatred.

Raimi’s film is difficult to pigeonhole within a single genre. “Send Help” is a playful, tonally-all-over-the-place experience, with elements of classic adventure films (Danny Elfman’s score feels like something from Hollywood’s Golden Age), strange forays into romcom territory, and Raimi’s signature horror flourishes.

It’s an odd amalgamation that doesn’t always work — the beginning, in particular, is far less tightly edited and stylistically engaging than the island shenanigans, and the will-they-won’t-romance that comes into play heads down predictable paths. So, too, does the big “twist,” which waters down some of the film’s more pointed ideas on gender power dynamics for a far more schematic, underwhelming framework.

With Raimi at the helm, you know he won’t hold back on the over-the-top carnage, editing, and camerawork. Bob Murawski’s editing and Bill Pope’s cinematography perfectly complement Raimi’s sensibilities — match cuts, crazy zooms, POV shots of feral boars, it’s all there, along with buckets of goopy gore and a couple of genuinely squirm-inducing moments that are difficult to unsee (literally).

The film just takes a while to get to those “Holy Shit!” moments, spinning its wheels at times repeating the push-pull dynamic between Linda and Bradley, as defenses are lowered and, soon after, raised again. 

But pacing and plotting issues aside, “Send Help” is still a perfect film to watch in a crowded theater, seeing these characters regress as the outside world crumbles around us.

“Send Help” is a 2026 horror film directed by Sam Raimi and starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Bruce Campbell, and Xavier Samuel. It’s run time is 1 hour, 53 minutes, and it is rated R for strong/bloody violence and language. It opened in theatres Jan. 30. Alex’s grade: B.

MCU Crisscrosses Superheroes, Alternate Realities, But Lacks Emotional Punch In ‘Doctor Strange’

MCU Crisscrosses Superheroes, Alternate Realities, But Lacks Emotional Punch In ‘Doctor Strange’

By Lynn Venhaus
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” should be titled “The Madness of the Multiverse” instead, for expect a mélange of the mystical, the mind-bending, the mysterious – and the messy — in the long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel.

Dense Marvel superhero lore is its imprint, for where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been and where it wants to go is factored into each of their movies, tying things together (but these days, keeping up is getting to be a bigger chore in a very crowded field).

This latest entry picks up where the superior smash-hit “Spider-Man: No Way Home” left off, and it helps if you saw it – and the innovative 2021 limited series “WandaVision” on Disney+ .Dr. Stephen Strange cast a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself, and pushes the boundaries in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”  

“Doctor Strange 2” is very inside for Marvel fanatics, who delight with every surprise and cameo, but for the casual viewers, it’s a struggle to sustain interest when things aren’t exploding or moving fast through different realities (or fantasies, take your pick).

The commanding Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as smart, sophisticated, sardonic surgeon Stephen Strange, whose origin story in 2016 was one of the best surprises of that year.

The medical marvel turned weird wizard has gone on to appear in the final two “Avengers” films – was among those lost in the ‘blip’ – and then played a major role in the third Tom Holland-led Spidey, where he messed with reality (“I did what I had to do”) and caused cataclysmic events.

This next MCU chapter connects other comic-book characters, those we’ve seen before and new to the screen, as well as presenting alternate versions of themselves, as the multiverse gets more of a workout. Cumberbatch gets to have three looks, including a grotesque zombie-like creature, but usually struts or flies around in his double-duty red cape looking powerful.

Elisabeth Olsen as Wanda

This sequel cuts to the chase right away, but then eventually breaks down in logic because the trippy visuals overtake the storytelling. This results in just another computer-generated spectacle overstuffed with electrical currents, disgusting monsters with gigantic tentacles, flying chunks of concrete and portals leading to other universes and dimensions.

Directed by the inventive Sam Raimi, a horror film auteur mostly known for the creepy and campy “Evil Dead” movies, he puts the dark in‘the dark hold,” heaps more fire and brimstone on, and adds more blood and gore to his Marvel canvas.

This is his first superhero movie since the Spider-Man trilogy he did with Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker in 2002, 2004 and 2007, and his first movie since the disappointing “Oz the Great and Powerful” in 2013.

The cast is fine — stalwart Benedict Wong returns as “Sorcerer Supreme” Wong, Rachel McAdams plays the good doctor’s ex-girlfriend Christine with a new role in one of the parallel universes, and newcomer Xochitl Gomez is the plucky America Chavez who can traverse between the universes. They also walk in and out of dreams.

The Illuminati is mentioned – which used to mean a secret society supposedly masterminding current events and conspiring to control world affairs, but now has other superheroes in the mix (?).

Besides battling big ugly demons, Strange’s main nemesis is The Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff, who yearns to be a mother to two little boys in an alternate reality, but can’t because the good doctor won’t let her upset the universe further. Chaos ensues, but what is the end game exactly? Wanda has been good before, but now she is bad. Elisabeth Olsen is compelling showing both sides of the conflicted character.

The very name “science fiction” implies that it will bend time and space and logic as we know it, but it must make some sort of sense for people to be able to follow it.

Michael Waldron’s script is cumbersome in translating the comic book characters created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for the big green screen treatment. And while the visuals get high marks, the emotional connections needed to elevate the film aren’t there. And what is the “Book of Vishanti” anyway?

Waldron, who created “Loki,” tries to juggle too many characters, realities, magic mumbo-jumbo and constant leaping through time and space to have any kind of linear cohesiveness. While it’s fun to journey to a few different worlds in this genre, this is an overload that ardent fans will embrace — but others not so much.

I can’t tell where this genre adventure is going, but I’m caring less and less. Initially intrigued by the Doctor Strange character six years ago, have we come to the end of the road, or can he stand out enough moving forward?

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is a 2022 action-adventure superhero sequel directed by Sam Raimi and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elisabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams and Xochitl Gomez. Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, frightening images and some language, it runs 2 hours, 6 minutes. Opens in theatres May 6. Lynn’s Grade: C.