Send Help (2026): When Survival becomes a Power Trip [SPOILERS]
WARNING: This review contains FULL SPOILERS for the ending of Send Help.
Send Help is one of those films where the title tells you less than the name above it. This isn’t just a survival thriller about a plane crash; it’s a Sam Raimi film. Made late in his career, it carries the confidence of a director who knows exactly how to make an audience uncomfortable.
On the surface, it presents a familiar setup: Linda (Rachel McAdams), a competent but erased employee, and Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), the entitled boss who inherited his power, are stranded on an island. We expect a simple reversal story—the capable woman takes charge, the useless man learns a lesson.
But Send Help isn't interested in reversal. It’s interested in escalation.
From Survival to Control
The film’s quiet turning point isn't the crash; it's the moment Linda realizes she doesn't want to be rescued.
When the opportunity for rescue arises, Linda chooses not to act. From that moment on, the genre shifts. It stops being about endurance and starts being about an addiction to control. Linda begins reenacting the corporate structure she hated, but this time, she is the CEO of the island. She decides when Bradley eats. She decides what he learns.
Linda isn't driven by revenge (which seeks balance/closure). She is driven by the fear of erasure. If they go back, she becomes invisible again. If they stay, she is a god.
The Psychology of Linda Liddel and Bradley Preston
The Verdict
"It’s gross, it’s funny, and it’s deeply uncomfortable. A survival film that isn't about escape, but about the addiction of control."
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