Sometimes, when you least expect it, an actor’s performance can lift a movie into an entirely different category. Without Rachel McAdams, I imagine that Sam Raimi’s horror comedy “Send Help” would still be perfectly watchable; a lesser performer could probably have still kept our interest in this story of an arrogant boss (Dylan O’Brien) and a frustrated underling (McAdams) who improbably wind up on a deserted island together. But there’s something about McAdams’ way of gleefully embracing the cringiest elements of her character, and yet still finding ways to infuse her own trademark warmth, that’s mesmerizing. You’ve never seen McAdams quite like this, and she carries the movie as easily as her hapless Linda wields a knife — because yes, it turns out this mousy woman actually knows just what to do in their new circumstances, thanks to lots of late-night viewing of “Survivor.”

The dynamic between Linda and her boss, Bradley, is expertly outlined in the film’s brief first act. At the perfectly named Preston Strategic Solutions (what the company actually does is, of course, left to our imaginations), Linda is that employee who does great work but is mostly mocked and ignored, because she’s frumpy and awkward and has a habit of leaving smelly tuna sandwiches in her desk drawer. (An early scene in which she tries to make a demand of Bradley while having a splodge of mayo on her face is both funny and devastating; you want so badly to hand her a napkin.) Bradley, a self-important jerk, has no use for Linda and reneges on a promised promotion; he wants, as he tells her, somebody who golfs. As a consolation prize, he offers her a spot on the corporate jet on a business trip to Thailand — only to find the two of them the lone survivors after a crash.

And right there, “Send Help” becomes a two-hander — one that’s simultaneously funny and horrifying and, weirdly, entirely believable. Bradley, of course, starts mansplaining survival to Linda after she’s saved his life; Linda, who’s both freaked out by their circumstances but also strangely thrilled by them, gets busy building shelters and crafting backpacks out of vines and killing a particularly cranky boar for dinner (with the boar providing one of the movie’s several excellent jump scares); and you wonder, with pleasure, how this can possibly end. (Spoiler alert: perfectly.) Raimi can’t resist letting things get wildly over the top at times (there’s a lot of blood and vomit in this movie), but ultimately “Send Help” is a fascinating study of what happens when a power dynamic suddenly shifts — and when a skilled and charismatic actor is given space to try something entirely new.

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'SEND HELP'

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong/bloody violence and language)

Running time: 1:53

How to watch: In theaters Jan. 30

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