You could spend an entire lifetime debating which Stephen King movie is the best. Whether you prefer It’s terrifying jump scares, The Shining’s building dread, or the freaky evil kids in Children of the Corn, King’s writing has inspired a great film for every type of horror fan. However, there’s one I’d personally put above the rest: the slow-boil thriller Misery, which manages to turn a story about two characters stuck in a house together into one of the scariest experiences a King fan can experience.
Misery is a perfect movie, thanks to gripping performances from Kathy Bates and James Caan, combined with the invisibly masterful filmmaking of director Rob Reiner. Can anything ever top Misery? Maybe not, but one of the best thrillers of 2026 (so far) makes a valiant effort by taking the core premise of an injured man who’s both cared for and tortured by an erratic woman, and changing one detail: It maroons the characters on a desert island. Now, that movie is finally available to stream.
Send Help, from legendary director Sam Raimi, just made its streaming debut on Hulu. Here’s why you need to watch this movie that mixes a Stephen King premise with a desert island setting, and what you should know before you begin.
Send Help stars Rachel McAdams as Linda, an overeager middle manager desperate for a promotion, but overlooked by her nepo-baby boss Donovan (Dylan O’Brien). When the two of them get stranded on an island after the company’s private jet crashes mid-flight, the power dynamics suddenly shift. Survivor-obsessed Linda puts her bushcraft skills to work building shelter, finding food, and looking after the injured, helpless Donovan. Linda soon gets a taste for power and realizes she likes it, which means keeping Donovan under her thumb by any means necessary.
Raimi, who helped develop the movie based on a script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (the duo behind Freddy vs. Jason), shoots Send Help like only the twisted mind behind The Evil Dead could. His camera captures the horrors of a violent plane crash and a smelly tuna sandwich in an open-plan office with equal glee. Once Linda and Donovan reach the island, Raimi delights in terrorizing both of his characters with all the goop, blood, and bile the great outdoors can throw at them. He even sneaks in a zombie for good measure.
In an interview with Inverse to promote Send Help‘s theatrical release, Raimi explained how both Misery and Castaway influenced his film.
“I love both movies,” Raimi said. “They’re both obviously classics and brilliant. But I made it a point to not only not watch them again, but when I recognized similarities, to try and take the other path. I didn’t really like working that way, but they’re such great classics that I had no choice.”
Raimi also revealed that the original script for Send Help referenced both of those movies directly, which he cut during rewrites. That’s probably for the best. You don’t need the characters to spell out that what they’re experiencing feels like Misery or Castaway. It’s right there in the story, and Raimi’s unique sensibilities give the experience just enough distance to make it feel wholly original, rather than a mishmash of pre-existing ideas.
Send Help isn’t a Stephen King copycat, but the horror writer’s influence is also inescapable. Raimi’s genius comes from his ability to take familiar stories (whether that’s Misery or Spider-Man) and transform them into something brand new. It’s why after decades of working both outside and inside the Hollywood system, he’s still one of our greatest directors. And it’s why Send Help is a must-watch now that it’s finally available on a streaming service like Hulu.
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