Send Help (2026)

 Send Help is the latest film from Sam Raimi. It sees Rachel McAdams (Linda) and Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) survive a plane crash and have to survive but when Linda sees a boat passing by she tries her best to stay on the island to extreme measures. The plot is simple, the characters are not very likeable in different ways and there is a high level of slapstick gore. Rachel McAdams does really well as Linda. She starts off as a frumpy unlikable office worker but when the story moves to the island she seems to become a different person. Someone who is in her dream location and has an upper hand on her loathsome boss. Dylan O’Brien plays Bradley really well. He is unlikeable because he is the typical horrible boss that will say whatever it takes.

There are many moments which feel very much like you are watching a Sam Raimi film. One moment comes when the plane starts to crash and one of the passengers flies out the plane and his tie catches off the side and bashes his head on the side of the window which leads Linda to comically close the window blind. Another moment comes when Linda is attempting to give Bradley mouth to mouth resuscitation and between every breath attempt she is throwing up all over him. There are plenty more funny moments and this is why Raimi is such a good director because he makes it work and doesn't make the film feel farcical. 

I knew the exact moment when I loved this film and it comes quite late into the film when we discover what is on the other side of the big X that Bradley was told not to go past and it is in fact a fancy beach house with all the mod cons that you would want. In any other film this would have totally lost me and I would have rolled my eyes at but I found it quite funny in the context of this film. I thought that it fitted the humour quite well. The film ended in a way that I liked. Even though neither character is particularly likeable, I was happy that Linda literally drove off into the sunset. I can see some people not liking this but I thought that she sort of deserved this ending.

There is a plot hole that stood out to me during the film but it isn’t big enough to ruin my enjoyment but I would be failing in my review if I didn’t point them out. The plot hole is concerning Zuri and the guy who has the boat. Did neither of them let anyone know where they were going and did no one ask Linda if she knew anything about them. The only real issue with the film is that the opening 10-15 minutes is a bit unnecessary. The film spends too long hammering the point home that Linda isn’t that likeable and lives alone with her bird and has aspirations of being on a Survivor-style reality show.

There is enough Sam Raimi stuff in it that you will be entertained. I don't think it is quite up there with the first two Evil Dead films but it was definitely an enjoyable film. I think had the film started a bit better then this would have become my film of the year but I think that and some other pacing issues means that this is a fun if slightly flawed Sam Raimi film.

Shelter (2026)

There are some actors you know what sort of film you are going to get and Jason Statham is the modern day poster child for this. You know that you are going to get a film where people are sent to attack/kill the Statham character and he ends up killing them. Shelter is another example of an acting giving the audience what they want and it sees Statham play Michael Mason who is an  ex member of a black ops group black kite is hunted down by the th ex head of MI6 (played brilliantly by Bill Nighy) because 10 years earlier he refused to kill someone and now along with a young girl he has to try and avoid being killed.

The plot is simple but it doesn't really need to be anymore complicated or convoluted. It’s your typical Jason Statham film and it’s a lot of fun. The only real issue that I have with the film is that it does feel a bit rushed at the end but the action scenes are quite good and it’s worth seeing just for evil Bill Nighy. I was impressed with Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Jesse. I recently saw her in Hamnet but in this she is quite good considering her role is nothing special but she makes the most out of it and the relationship with her character and Mason was nice to see. The whole idea about surveillance isn’t really that explored very much but it’s a Jason Statham film so you’re not expecting Oppenheimer.

Bill Nighy is clearly having fun as the evil boss of MI6 Manafort but there is also a good performance from Naomi Ackie who is named as his interim replacement Roberta who uncovers what her predecessor has been up to but stops short of pardoning Mason. Daniel Mays pops up for about 10 minutes and they have his character dying from cancer and yet he doesn’t get to do a noble sacrifice which is a minor criticism as it’s always nice to see Mays on screen.

Shelter is a lot of fun and one of the better Statham films. The action scenes are fun and its clear that some effort has been put into making them look as good as possible. The thing about Statham is that he knows his audience and knows what they like so he gives them what he wants but what puts him above some in this genre is that he seems to still care. That might not sound like a big thing but given how many people seem to have been phoning it in in recent years you end up appreciating what Statham does a little bit more. Definitely worth your time.