Be warned – this article reveals major plot details from Sam Raimi’s new movie, Send Help. Send Help is off to a strong start in 2026, and it’s packed with surprising twists, especially in its shocking ending. The film, a return to horror for Sam Raimi, has earned a “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 92% approval rating from critics and an 88% audience score on its release day. This success is due to the talented people involved and the important discussions sparked by the film’s conclusion.
In Send Help, Rachel McAdams delivers a standout performance as Linda Liddle, a dedicated but somewhat clumsy employee at Preston Strategic Solutions. When the company’s founder dies, his entitled and disrespectful son, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), takes over as CEO and surprisingly passes Linda over for a promotion she’s earned. After she challenges him, Bradley brings Linda on a business trip to Bangkok – a trip that takes a disastrous turn when their plane crashes. Now, as the only two people left, Linda and Bradley are forced to rely on each other to survive, and the challenging situation dramatically changes their relationship.
I totally get why Mark Keizer at MovieWeb called Send Help a “thrilling two-hander.” The movie, from 20th Century Studios, really hyped up its ending, promising something unbelievable – and they weren’t kidding! It’s an ending you need to talk about right away, so let’s break down that shocking finale and what that huge twist actually means.
‘Send Help’s Biggest Twists, Explained
20th Century Studios
The movie Send Help is full of surprising twists, and things quickly unravel when Bradley’s fiancée, Zuri, unexpectedly shows up on the island. Linda is shocked when Zuri arrives by boat with a man who’s been assisting her search for Bradley. As Linda guides them toward Bradley, she starts thinking about killing them both before Bradley finds out they’re there. They reach the cliff where Bradley previously saved Linda, and she deliberately lets Zuri fall, watching as the boat captain tries to rescue her. The film then cuts to Linda alone on the beach, strongly suggesting that Zuri and the captain have perished.
The story takes a dark turn when Bradley ventures into the jungle seeking food and discovers a wild boar attacking a hand buried in the sand. To his horror, he realizes the hand belongs to his fiancée, Zuri, and she’s wearing the engagement ring he gave her. Overcome with grief and rage, Bradley confronts Linda on the beach, leading to a brutal fight in the jungle. They attempt to kill each other – Linda tries to strangle him with her shoelaces, and Bradley retaliates with a violent struggle, culminating in Linda biting his hand and swallowing the ring, and Bradley injuring her eye. (Thankfully, Disney’s other upcoming 2026 films won’t be this intense.) The fight ends with Linda stabbing Bradley before he flees into the jungle, ignoring her warning to stay away.
The biggest surprise in Send Help happens when Bradley discovers Linda has been hiding a mansion on the island – a mansion that’s been there the whole time! This means they could have potentially called for rescue immediately after landing. Linda had warned Bradley to stay away from the X-shaped rocks, claiming dangerous plants lay beyond, but the X actually marked the location of the hidden house. When Bradley finds it, he rushes inside, finding a lavish kitchen stocked with fresh fruit. Just as he’s enjoying a cold drink, the lights go out and Linda’s voice reveals she knew about the mansion all along.
Bradley soon discovers that Linda found the mansion – owned by a Wall Street billionaire – shortly after they arrived on the island. While exploring, she saw a speedboat arrive with caretakers delivering fruit. She watched them enter the security code, then broke in, disabled the alarm, and hid all the kitchen knives, except for one she would later use against Bradley. Linda admits they could have been rescued much earlier, but she wasn’t ready to leave. As Bradley destroys the security cameras, Linda monitors him from the security room, revealing she intentionally kept them stranded because she wanted to stay with him. A flashback shows Linda causing the boat captain and Zuri to fall overboard and drown when he tried to save Zuri’s life.
What Happens to Bradley Preston At the End of ‘Send Help’
20th Century Studios
Walking through the shadowy house, Bradley finds himself in a strange room decorated with horned statues and golf clubs. When Linda enters, she immediately points a shotgun at him. Overcome, Bradley drops to his knees and tearfully confesses he’s a terrible person. He continues to apologize for his past behavior while Linda keeps the shotgun trained on him, and suggests they remain on the island together, believing they can face any challenge as a team. He even declares his love for her – a moment as awkward as the most embarrassing scenes in Raimi’s films – and Linda repeats the sentiment.
Linda soon notices a horn is missing from a statue nearby, but Bradley quickly attacks, slashing her with the broken horn and disarming her. As Linda grabs for a golf club, Bradley picks up the shotgun and aims it at her, but discovers the bullets are blanks. Linda swiftly uses the golf club to knock Bradley down and pins him to the ground. She coldly reminds him of her position within his company – “Strategy and Planning” – before delivering a final blow that kills him.
Bradley Preston consistently underestimated those around him, a critical mistake that ultimately led to his downfall. Throughout the story, he fails to recognize Linda’s intelligence and capabilities, even when she repeatedly demonstrates them. His dismissive attitude is clear from the start, notably when he mocks her audition tape – where she actually reveals she’s exceptionally prepared and strategically minded. The fact that he’s killed with a golf club is particularly ironic, given his earlier condescending remarks to Linda about needing someone who could charm clients on the golf course. He essentially valued popularity over competence, and his arrogance blinded him to Linda’s true potential. In the end, Bradley’s inflated ego and inability to appreciate Linda’s skills proved fatal, bringing his story to a tragically fitting conclusion.
What Happens To Linda Liddle At the End of ‘Send Help’
20th Century Studios
Okay, so things really work out for Linda, and honestly, this scene instantly makes it into my list of Rachel McAdams’ best work. The movie jumps ahead almost a year, and we see her at a celebrity golf tournament, actually on the green! During an interview, we find out she’s surprisingly taken up golf – she says she’s “grown to love” it. It’s also revealed she’s become a bit of a celebrity after being rescued at sea, floating on a raft. Which is funny, because she and Bradley had this whole conversation earlier about how a raft should be your absolute last option for getting off the island. It’s a clever little callback!
The story reveals Linda was the only person to survive a plane crash that left her and Bradley stranded. This implies she buried Bradley, as well as Zuri and her companion, and carefully covered up any evidence of her time in the mansion. Now famous as a “real-life Survivor,” Linda has become a bestselling author, and her book is even being made into a movie. She’s currently working on a self-help book, explaining, with a direct look at the camera, that “No help is coming. So you better start saving yourself.” The film ends with Linda driving down a coastal highway in a new convertible, with her bird, Sweetie, beside her – Sweetie having also survived the ordeal. She looks directly at the audience, as if challenging them. The song playing is “One Way or Another,” which she notes she would have sung at karaoke if her colleagues had invited her.
The Real Meaning of ‘Send Help,’ Explained
20th Century Studios
“Send Help” is a complex and thought-provoking story with an ending open to interpretation. Ultimately, Linda was in a desperate fight for her life. She’d kept the mansion a secret and allowed Bradley’s fiancée to die, leaving her with no option but to kill Bradley or risk being killed herself. If she’d let Zuri find him, they would have all escaped the island, but Linda would have returned to a life she hated and likely lost her job. Conversely, if Bradley hadn’t discovered Zuri’s footprint, he and Linda might have been trapped on the island forever, as Linda had no intention of revealing her crimes. Like Bradley, Linda proved to be self-serving, prioritizing her own survival. This makes “Send Help” not only a psychological thriller about desire and greed, but also a story about the will to survive at any cost.
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Ultimately, Send Help is about Linda’s struggle as a woman in a workplace where men hold all the power. Before the story truly begins, she faces constant disrespect – she’s dismissed, mocked, excluded, and denied opportunities she deserves. The island setting only amplifies this pattern. Even after repeatedly saving Bradley’s life and fighting for their survival, she’s betrayed, ridiculed, and left to die, reinforcing Bradley’s belief that she’s inferior. When Linda breaks the fourth wall and says help isn’t coming, it’s a message to women who have experienced similar mistreatment from men. She’s not advocating for dangerous situations, but challenging them to fight for their own well-being and take control of their lives. Many men simply don’t see women as equals, or accept women in positions of power. Linda’s fierce, though violent, example shows that equality is possible for those who are courageous enough to pursue it.
Linda’s key line carries a powerful message that many viewers, particularly recently, find deeply relatable. It’s become increasingly common for people to feel overwhelmed by negative events, both close to home and around the world. With rising costs, political conflicts, and harsh policies, it often feels like no one is coming to help. Linda Liddle’s advice to “start saving yourself” can be seen as a call for everyone to take responsibility for their own well-being and find their own path to a better life. In a time when decisions are often made by those in power for their own benefit, Linda seems to be encouraging us to prioritize our own happiness, no matter the circumstances. She believes that a positive outlook is essential for survival, and if she could endure a difficult situation with a challenging person for weeks, it suggests that we all have the strength to cope with our own struggles, too.
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2026-01-31 00:35