When HR can’t save you
Strap: A plane crash strands boss and employee, turning office grudges into darkly comic, vicious fight for survival
OB Bureau
Sam Raimi, the Evil Dead Rise filmmaker, is back in his comfort zone and he’s brought the knives, the laughs and the psychological mayhem with him.
Sam Raimi’s latest survival horror thriller drops Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien onto a deserted island after a plane crash, stripping away boardroom polish and replacing it with raw instinct.
McAdams plays Linda Liddle, a long-suffering employee who has spent years swallowing the casual cruelty of her boss, Bradley Preston, played by O’Brien. When the crash leaves them isolated with no rescue in sight, corporate hierarchy collapses fast and survival becomes the only currency that matters.
What unfolds is less about monsters in the dark and more about the one you’re stuck with. The island turns into a pressure cooker where hunger, fear and old resentments collide. Etiquette gives way to instinct, power dynamics flip, and every decision pushes both characters closer to moral and psychological breakdown. The environment is hostile, but the real danger lies in how much they trust, or distrust, each other.
Shot across locations in Australia, the US and Thailand, the film keeps its focus tight, using a minimal cast and practical settings to build tension the old-school Raimi way. This is character-driven horror, where dread creeps in through conversations, glances and choices rather than jump scares or spectacle.
The film recently screened for the press, and early reactions suggest Raimi hasn’t lost his edge. Critics have described it as vicious, funny and unapologetically nasty, with many praising how it leans into dark comedy alongside discomfort. Some have even likened it to Raimi’s gleefully cruel earlier work, calling it a karmic dismantling of toxic power wrapped in survival chaos.
McAdams, in particular, is drawing rave notices, with reviewers calling it one of her finest performances yet, while O’Brien’s turn as a brittle, unravelling boss has been praised for its bite and range. The dynamic between the two, shifting from familiar workplace tension to something far more primal, is being flagged as the film’s biggest strength.
For Raimi fans, this is a homecoming. It’s been 15 years since he last directed a full-blown horror film, and the verdict so far is clear: the master of mischievous menace is back, and he’s clearly enjoying himself. In this island nightmare, the scariest realisation isn’t being stranded; it’s knowing the person you fear most may also be the only one who can keep you alive.