The most enjoyable surprise in Mayday is how little it mistakes velocity for personality. Its frozen borderland, downed aircraft and ticking-clock escape route arrive with the expected action-movie machinery, but the film finds its pulse in the awkward, increasingly affectionate space between two men who ought to be enemies.
Mayday understands that the best escape route is sometimes a great double act.
Movie at a Glance
- Streaming on: Apple TV
- Release date: 4 September 2026
- Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Rating: PG-13
- Directors and writers: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
- Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh, Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński and David Morse
- Genre: Action-comedy
Viewer Match
- Best for: Viewers craving a self-contained action-comedy with a strong buddy-movie engine.
- Maybe skip if: You want an austere, historically grave Cold War thriller.
- Mood and pace: Brisk, wintry, deadpan and increasingly warm-hearted.
- Cinema or streaming? Its scale travels cleanly to the sofa; the pleasure is the pairing and the momentum, not a demand for the largest screen.
- Spoiler level: Spoiler-free.
A Buddy Movie in Enemy Territory
Ryan Reynolds brings his habitual quicksilver defensiveness to Lieutenant Troy ‘Assassin’ Kelly, a Navy pilot whose confidence is abruptly rendered useless by Soviet territory and a mission gone wrong. The performance has room for the familiar Reynolds rhythm, yet the film is at its best when that rhythm becomes a shield the character cannot fully trust. Kenneth Branagh answers him with a wonderfully off-centre turn as Nikolai Ustinov, an ex-KGB agent whose fondness for American culture turns into both a running joke and a genuine bridge. Their mismatch is not merely a setup to be endured between chases; it is the film’s central piece of craftsmanship.
Cold War, Warm Chemistry
Daley and Goldstein give the action a clean, legible sense of forward motion, letting the snowy terrain and spy-thriller pressure supply real stakes without squeezing the comedy flat. The screenplay’s sharpest instinct is its restraint: it does not over-explain why these men begin to understand one another. Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński and David Morse add texture around the margins, while the sound and visual design keep the 1987 setting tactile rather than museum-like. A few comic beats announce themselves a fraction early, and the film can occasionally favour a neat callback over a messier surprise, but its generosity carries it through.
Spoiler-Free Verdict
- Performances: 8/10
- Direction: 8/10
- Screenplay: 7.5/10
- Score: 7/10
- Cinematography: 8/10
- Entertainment Value: 8.5/10
- Overall: 8/10
Final Star Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Verdict Badge: Worth Seeing
One-line verdict: A nimble, good-humoured escape thriller elevated by the particular comic chemistry of Reynolds and Branagh.
Watch the Official Trailer
Watch the authorised trailer for Mayday.
Film Clip: Hiding in the Closet
A short authorised clip from the film.
Have you watched Mayday? Share your spoiler-free verdict in the comments.