Directed by Sam Raimi | Written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift | 113 min | ▲▲▲ | In Cinemas 

There’s a few things to say about this Sam Raimi comedy horror that may be relevant to your interests. It’s a movie aiming to entertain — and occasionally shock — and succeeds at both of those efforts more or less.

It’s the story of a put-on office worker, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), who doesn’t have much in the way of social skills but works her ass off to keep the corporation humming. When she’s passed over for a promised promotion because scumbag new boss Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) would rather have one of his frat bros in the position, she’s devastated. Shortly after, she and Bradley are aboard an executive jet that crashes off the coast of Thailand and the two of them are the only survivors. Washing up on a desert island it’s her practical skills that allow them to survive — she begins to flourish and turn the tables on her onerous boss.

I could offer detail of the wildly uneven special effects — from the awful CGI of the jet crash to the obvious in-studio scenes that undercut any sense of realism provided by the location cinematography.

I could talk about the ways the film compares, somewhat favourably, to pictures with genre overlap like Swept Away, Castaway, the Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed picture from 1986, or the more recent Triangle of Sadness.

Or I could explore the film’s themes — the way it satisfyingly channels a deep rage against the patriarchy, and whether that narrative is weakened by shifting audience loyalties in the third act — it probably isn’t, but the movie does go a bit off the rails in an overlong final gambit.

All of that would be fine: the movie is a good time, despite its flaws, but what’s most important to say is Send Help is a sterling reminder that Rachel McAdams is one of the most versatile actors working in Hollywood. While she’s definitely a movie star, I think she’s sometimes underestimated in the deep variety of her skills.

McAdams is someone who raises every picture she’s in with her talent. That’s certainly true here — this movie gets lifted a full grade in my book by how terrific she is in it.

We know she’s a gifted comic actor in movies like Mean Girls, Game Night, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, but don’t forget she starred in one of the most beloved romances ever made, The Notebook, and she’s even shone in a couple superhero movies.  She’s also done stellar work in dramas and thrillers like Disobedience, Spotlight, and A Most Wanted Man.

And that’s just scratching the surface of her impressive body of work. Here she delivers a character we haven’t seen before from her: Linda is awkward and self-conscious but also, eventually, cunning, unpredictable, and even dangerous. She’s the best reason to go see Send Help.