Pop Culture Happy Hour – "Send Help" and What's Making Us Happy
Date: January 30, 2026
Host: Linda Holmes (NPR)
Guests: Ronald Young Jr., Kristen Meinzer
Episode Overview
This episode dives into the new comic-horror film Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien. The team—Linda Holmes, Ronald Young Jr., and Kristen Meinzer—explores its blend of workplace satire, survival hijinks, and cartoonish gore. The discussion debates whether the movie delivers meaningful commentary or leans into pure, bloody slapstick fun. The episode wraps with everyone’s weekly pop culture recommendations in "What's Making Us Happy".
Key Discussion Points
1. Film Premise & Setup
- Premise: Rachel McAdams plays Linda Little, an underappreciated office worker whose creepy rich-kid boss Bradley (Dylan O'Brien) takes her to Thailand on business; they become castaways after a plane crash, forced to survive together.
- Linda is an amateur survivalist; Bradley is utterly helpless. The film quickly establishes a shifting power dynamic.
Linda Holmes [02:16]:
"The dynamic between them shifts and shifts again as they try to survive long enough to be rescued."
2. Overall Tone: Horror-Comedy vs. Social Satire
- Kristen Meinzer: Pleasure in the film's over-the-top, corny, and gory absurdity.
"This movie is corny, it's gross, it's heavy handed, it lacks any subtlety whatsoever. And I absolutely loved it. ... Enjoy it for what it's trying to be." (02:44) - Ronald Young Jr.: Disappointment at missed opportunities for deeper class commentary. Expected a film that would fully explore how value and power change when systems fall away, like in "Triangle of Sadness".
"I thought they were going to truly explore that premise and really come to a head to say, hey, ... you're not this person. And they don't quite go into that ... Sam Raimi got carried away with the gore." (03:40) - Linda Holmes: Finds excitement in the unpredictable dynamic, the blend of slapstick violence and sly character reversals—prefers horror-comedy to straight horror.
"Throughout the movie, that meant that I really did not always know what they were saying that was genuine and what they were saying that was a manipulation of the situation or each other. ... I had such a good time at this." (06:07)
3. Memorable/Gross-Out Moments
- Plane crash scene: compared to a cartoon, goes "all the way to 11 and then ... 25" (Kristen Meinzer, 07:09).
- Infamous CPR scene:
Kristen Meinzer [07:59]: "Rachel McAdams' character Linda Little is saving her boss's life, administering CPR. ... I was screaming with delight. I was screaming like I can't believe they're doing this."- Both guests highlight the film's willingness to push boundaries for comedic shock.
4. Character Arcs and Power Dynamics
- Ronald Young Jr.: Felt the characters’ power dynamic was too static; Linda always competent, Bradley always helpless, in both office and island settings.
- Kristen Meinzer: Argues that the punch-counterpunch tension and role reversals—albeit shallow—are a key source of fun.
- Linda Holmes: Appreciates Linda’s newfound power and self-reliance outside office patriarchy; notes the film does, in its own way, undercut systems of authority.
Kristen Meinzer [12:18]:
"It's not good enough to be competent and positive. Sometimes you need to burn down the systems in order to get ahead."
Linda Holmes [13:51]:
"Outside of that system, she finds this new environment where she's very much freed up because of the skills that she has ... she has a kind of power that she did not have in her other life."
5. Sam Raimi’s Influence
- Signature "Raimi" gore and cartoon violence (eye-poking, gross-out bits) both amuse and frustrate the panel.
Ronald Young Jr. [04:52]: "If Sam Raimi sees an eye, you know he's going to poke it out. It's very Raimi." - Not a film for subtlety or deep psychological tension; more about comic excess in the horror genre.
6. Chekhov's Knife & Suspense
- Discussion about a knife that appears early, raising expectations about its later role; helps sustain tension and foreshadowing.
Linda Holmes [15:05]:
"The minute you see that knife, this is Chekhov's knife, you're sitting there thinking, like, one of these people is gonna wind up chasing the other one around with this knife at some point ... And that knife kind of comes back and back and back and it keeps kind of taking a role in the story."
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
Kristen Meinzer (on the film’s pleasure):
"I laughed, screamed, squealed, cheered and was delighted through this entire movie." (02:44)
Ronald Young Jr. (on subverted expectations):
"If you demonstrate someone as capable in the office scenes ... and then she becomes still very capable and good at her job [on the island]. ... There's no journey of either of these characters as to what that means, both on the island and off." (10:50)
Linda Holmes (on power structures):
"A helpless, useless guy like Bradley can get by in an office setting where his father leaves him the business. He cannot get by, ... that social kind of capital and financial capital is not present in this entirely other environment." (13:51)
Kristen Meinzer (joy at gross-out humor):
"There are gross out scenes in this movie I've never seen in a movie before. ... I was screaming. ... I cannot believe they're doing this." (07:59-08:09)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:21 — Episode and guest introductions
- 01:15 — Film premise detailed
- 02:44 — Kristen’s immediate take: “corny, gross, and loved it”
- 03:40 — Ronald’s critique: wanted deeper exploration
- 06:07 — Linda’s appreciation for unpredictability and comedy
- 07:09-08:09 — Panel cracks up over plane crash and gross-out scenes
- 13:08-13:51 — Reflection on system burn-down, individual power, and missed depth
- 16:35 — Final film verdict and transition to next segment
"What's Making Us Happy" This Week
[18:55] Kristen Meinzer:
- My So-Called Life (1990s TV drama)
- Rewatching with Greta Johnson for a podcast; highlights both elite writing and '90s cringe.
- “It’s like a time capsule. In some ways, it's the best TV writing ever. In some ways, it's the cringiest. Highly recommend."
[20:20] Ronald Young Jr.:
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Game of Thrones spinoff)
- Enjoys the smaller-scale, more personal story and the dose of humor in Westeros.
- “All I know is it is the familiar world of Game of Thrones... but all I know is it is the familiar world of Game of Thrones set up against a person who is having this much smaller story within the greater story that is Game of Thrones.”
[21:48] Linda Holmes:
- Shrinking (Apple TV) – Season 3
- Praises the comedy, warmth, and range of show, especially performances from Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, and guest Michael J. Fox.
- "To me, [Shrinking] is one of the kindest shows that I watch. ... It's also very, very funny. There are just some absolute like comedy assassins on this show."
Final Thoughts
Send Help inspires divided but passionate reactions. Kristen revels in its cartoon violence and darkly comic office-to-island revenge, Ronald laments the lost potential for biting satire, and Linda relishes its unpredictable energy and sly, slapstick horror. The trio agrees: don't expect subtlety or deep character growth, but if you want to watch an underdog outwit an awful boss—with the gore dialed up to 25—you're in for a riotous time.
For pop culture recommendations and more discussion, find the Pop Culture Happy Hour team on Facebook and Letterboxd.