Dylan O’Brien is set to make his horror debut soon, and he couldn’t have found a better collaborator. His horror film, Send Help, brings Sam Raimi back to horror.
O’Brien had his breakout role in Teen Wolf and further cemented his young adult hero status in The Maze Runner trilogy, but continued to make many interesting choices. In 2024, he flirted with sci-fi thrillers with Caddo Lake, produced by M. Night Shyamalan. In a new interview with Empire Magazine, Sam Raimi described the upcoming Send Help, which also stars Rachel McAdams, as “really, really outrageous.”
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Talking about the upcoming survival horror, Raimi teased it’s “a battle of wills.” The film follows two co-workers, stranded on a deserted island together.
Raimi continued, “Its theme is that of power dynamics being turned on their head. The fellas [writing duo Damian Shannon and Mark Swift] pitched the story, and I laughed and couldn’t believe they were doing this.” He continued, “It was really outrageous, even for me, who makes outrageous horror films.”
Speaking about his previous work, Raimi admits, “There is a similarity” with 1981’s Evil Dead, teasing, “but it’s not some outside force they’re dealing with here. What they’re coming to terms with is who they really are. And as the layers start shedding, we see certain conflicts emerge.”
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Sam Raimi has a long history with horror films. While Send Help marks his return to directing after a considerable break since 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it has been a long time since his previous horror. The filmmaker’s last horror feature film was 2009’s Drag Me to Hell, which was his first return to horror after the Spider-Man trilogy.
What Is Send Help About?
20th Century Studios
The survival comedy horror follows Rachel McAdams’ Linda Liddle and Dylan O’Brien’s Bradley Preston. The official trailer, released in October, clarified they were co-workers, with Bradley being her mean boss. However, he gives her an opportunity to impress him during a work trip across the ocean, but they never make it to the destination as the plane crashes.
The official logline notes the two colleagues “find themselves stranded on a deserted island after they are the only survivors of a plane crash.” As expected, “they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it is an unsettling and darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.”
Send Help premieres in theaters on Jan. 30, 2026.
Release Date
January 30, 2026
Director
Sam Raimi
Writers
Damian Shannon, Mark Swift
Producers
Sam Raimi, Zainab Azizi
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Dylan O’Brien
Bradley Preston
