Published Jan 26, 2026, 12:17 PM EST
Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University.
Iconic horror director Sam Raimi seems to have another hit in the genre with his latest movie's Rotten Tomatoes score.
Send Help, which has gotten started with strong reviews and scores, stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as an employee and her terrible boss stuck on a desert island after a plane crash. Their power dynamic flips and spirals into psychological horror territory when Bradley (O'Brien) becomes dependent on the survivalist-savvy Linda (McAdams).
Send Help has debuted with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89% from 28 reviews so far, making it a "certified fresh" movie. It is also Raimi's fifth-highest rated movie that he directed. Critics are praising the compelling dynamic between the two main characters in an unhinged picture; ScreenRant's Todd Gilchrist reviews Send Help and says that the actors "deliver fearlessly gag-inducing performances that turn their fight for survival into a glorious battle of wills."
Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe says that a "bloody battle between Linda and a wild boar provides the first big thrills of 2026," while The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey argues that "Send Help becomes the best of both worlds: indulgent Raimi splatter fuelled by a satisfying touch of righteous rage."
Send Help will arrive at a box office currently being dominated by the sci-fi thriller Mercy, with holdovers from 2025 Avatar: Fire and Ash, Zootopia 2, and The Housemaid also all still performing well. Meanwhile, Send Help's fellow early 2026 horror release, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has apparently flopped. Other movies hitting theaters this weekend are Shelter, Iron Lung, and Arco.
This is Raimi's first directorial feature since 2022's widely disliked superhero installment Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and his first R-rated horror movie since 2000's The Gift. Raimi is known for his work on the Evil Dead franchise, as well as helming the Spider-Man trilogy released from 2002 to 2007, starring Tobey Maguire.
Rachel McAdams, of Mean Girls and The Notebook fame, stars in both of the MCU's Doctor Strange movies, while her last theatrical release was 2023's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Meanwhile, Dylan O'Brien, most famous for Teen Wolf and The Maze Runner, starred in Anniversary and Twinless in 2025 and Saturday Night in 2024.
Send Help releases in theaters on January 30, 2026.
Release Date January 30, 2026
Runtime 113 Minutes
Director Sam Raimi
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Dylan O'Brien
Bradley Preston
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English (US) ·