Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Opening in theaters on January 30 is ‘Ship Assist,’ directed by Sam Raimi and starring Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Dennis Haysbert, and Emma Raimi.
“Meet Linda Liddle… She’s from technique and planning. She’s the boss now.”
Launch Date: Jan 30, 2026
Run Time: 1 hr 53 min
Associated Article: The 20 Finest Rachel McAdams Films of All Time!
Preliminary Ideas
(L to R) Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston and Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Think about ‘Forged Away,’ solely with a extra sympathetic Annie Wilkes from ‘Distress’ because the lead. Now combine that up with a complete lot of ‘Triangle of Disappointment’ and, after all, the TV present ‘Survivor,’ and also you may give you Sam Raimi’s new thriller, ‘Ship Assist.’
Billed as Raimi’s first horror movie since 2009’s ‘Drag Me to Hell,’ ‘Ship Assist’ is extra a darkly comedian survival thriller wherein the 2 leads cope with their office points whereas attempting to resist monsoons, wild boar, poison berries, and one another. Their antics are enormously entertaining, and Rachel McAdams specifically throws herself into her position with as a lot bodily gusto and emotional complexity as attainable. It won’t be an all-out horror film, nevertheless it may simply be Raimi’s greatest all-around characteristic in a protracted whereas.
Story and Route
Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Linda Liddle works within the technique and planning division of a consulting agency, the place she’s a genius at crunching numbers but awkward in all types of social interactions. Nonetheless, she’s due for a promotion – till the president of the corporate passes away and his boastful, misogynist, nepo-baby son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) takes over, giving the job to his frat brother as an alternative.
Nonetheless, Linda, a ‘Survivor’ fan who lives in a small residence together with her pet parrot and a complete bunch of foreshadowing – sorry, we imply books on survival and nature – is invited by Bradley with the remainder of the execs to a convention in Bangkok to assist shut a deal. However the non-public jet crashes in a vicious storm, leaving Linda and Bradley as the one survivors on an uninhabited island someplace within the Gulf of Thailand.
With Bradley injured, Linda units about making it attainable for them to remain alive – which is the place all her books and ‘Survivor’ information comes into play. Though Bradley begins to recuperate and assert himself, it quickly turns into clear that the tables have turned – Linda is the boss now, with Bradley reliant on her to maintain them alive and a reborn Linda thriving in a scenario that she’s out of the blue not too keen to go away.
(L to R) Dylan O’brien as Bradley Preston and Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
‘Ship Assist’ pulls liberally from the movies talked about above, with the reversal of fortune and energy proper out of ‘Triangle’ director Ruben Östlund’s playbook and the character dynamics coming from each that and ‘Distress.’ Versus that Stephen King-Rob Reiner thriller, nonetheless, this movie retains the viewer off-balance for a lot of the method about Linda’s true psychological state even when it veers into darker territory. Talking of which, the ultimate third of the film does labor a bit to remain on prime of its narrative and character turns, additionally taking part in a few methods one too many occasions, however comes again round with a totally satisfying payoff (together with a chilling final line).
As he’s performed his entire profession, Sam Raimi makes ‘Ship Assist’ a intelligent combo of morality play, black comedy, and cartoonish gorefest. The director doles out the blood and the wild digital camera strikes with much more restraint than he used to (save for one battle with a wild boar), however they’re simply as efficient as at all times, and he even manages to squeeze in a single outright ‘The Evil Lifeless’-type bounce scare. That is the director at his most energetic and playful, aided enormously by his two leads.
Forged and Performances
(L to R) Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle and Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Rachel McAdams looks as if a perennially underrated actress, probably as a result of she doesn’t work as consistently as different stars, but her abilities are on full show right here as Linda Liddle. McAdams positively owns the position, making Linda’s transformation from cast-off workplace employee to survivalist warrior plausible and layered via each her bodily dedication and psychological dexterity (even the ill-fitting clothes that she begins off sporting), with Linda remaining sympathetic all through at the same time as she takes a darker flip towards the tip.
Dylan O’Brien could also be equally underrated, and whereas Bradley is probably not as layered a personality as Linda, he nonetheless manages to present this largely despicable and poisonous male simply sufficient shading to make him greater than a one-dimensional villain (credit score too to screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift for getting some extra depth for each onto the web page).
And sure, though we missed him ourselves, we’re reliably knowledgeable that Bruce Campbell does present up – however you might need to look a bit tougher to identify him.
Remaining Ideas
Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph courtesy of twentieth Cnetury Studios. © 2026 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
For many of its size, Sam Raimi finds the best stability of thrills, humor, violence, and character growth in ‘Ship Assist,’ and each McAdams and O’Brien are recreation for no matter he and the script hurls at them.
The film wears its themes on its sleeve, however doesn’t come throughout as heavy-handed. Whereas not essentially the most authentic work in Sam Raimi’s filmography, this can be his greatest movie since 2004’s ‘Spider-Man 2,’ and definitely his most rewarding. ‘Ship Assist’ doesn’t want any help in anyway to be the type of entertaining but wealthy thrill journey that Sam Raimi can ship.
‘Ship Assist’ receives a rating of 85 out of 100.
(L tp R) Dylan O’brien as Bradley Preston and Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph by Brook Rushton. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
What’s the plot of ‘Ship Assist’?
The one survivors of a aircraft crash, two colleagues develop into stranded on a abandoned island, the place they have to overcome previous grievances and work collectively to outlive. Nevertheless it finally turns into a battle of wills and wits to see who makes it out alive.
Who’s within the forged of ‘Ship Assist’?
- Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle
- Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston
- Edyll Ismail as Zuri
- Xavier Samuel as Donovan
- Chris Pang as Chase
- Dennis Haysbert as Franklin
- Thaneth Warakulnukroh as Boat Captain
- Emma Raimi as River
(L to R) Dylan O’brien as Bradley Preston and Rachal McAdams as Linda Liddle in twentieth Century Studios’ ‘Ship Assist’. Photograph courtesy of twentieth Century Studios. © 2025 twentieth Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Checklist of Rachel McAdams Films and TV Exhibits:
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