‘Mayday’ Review: Daley & Goldstein’s Fresh Take on the Action-Comedy
In Apple TV’s Mayday, writer-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein take us back to 1980’s Russia in the midst of the Cold War, a markedly harsher and more grounded backdrop than the two have explored before. Daley and Goldstein are no strangers to the action comedy genre: both 2018’s Game Night and 2023’s Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thieves have garnered respect for the duo among those lucky enough to stumble upon the now-cult hits.
Can Mayday follow in the footsteps of Daley & Goldstein’s previous features, carving itself out a spot in modern action comedy canon, or will the film have you shouting “Mayday! Mayday!” as you reach for the remote? My thoughts on the new film below.
Mayday main characters and story
Ryan Reynolds stars as Troy Kelly, a Navy fighter pilot whose expertise lands him a top secret Black Ops mission. Troy crash lands in rural Russia and straight into the arms of ex-KGB officer turned long-distance-America-admirer Nikolai “Nick” Ustinov, played by Kenneth Branagh.
The chemistry between Branagh and Reynolds is the heart of the film itself. The veteran actors harness the American/Russian rough edges that bump up against each other, creating some big laughs and strong emotional moments.
Troy is undoubtedly another member of the “just Ryan Reynolds” collective of film characters, but the friction that character has with his environment and other characters weaponizes that idea in a way that makes for a refreshing experience.
Mayday IS indeed another Ryan Reynolds vehicle, and if you don’t like his shtick, this will be no reprieve. However, the film doesn’t lean on him as a crutch so much as it recontextualizes him for the good of its story.
If the leads’ chemistry is the heart of the film, then Kenneth Branagh‘s Nick Ustinov is the heart within that heart. Nick is a changed man, having served in the darkest corners of the KGB for years, but has now quietly retreated into the woods.
Whether that’s out of shame for what he did or so he could safely explore his love for America is never disclosed. The way his enthusiasm leaps out from underneath the thick Russian facade of quietness is brilliant.
Both characters are just personifications of their respective countries. At least once the film directly has the two talk about their perceptions of each other’s countries, but the story between them that grows out of that concept is what makes the film come alive.
Not another 80s nostalgia bomb
I was slightly nervous upon realizing Nick was so in love with America, thinking there would be a bombardment of pop culture references to come. Instead, when references do come, it’s done so that we (the American audience) can better understand Nick and who he is via what he loves. As an ex-military man, of course Nick would love Top Gun. As a quiet, mumbling mountain man, he would definitely gravitate toward Bruce Springsteen.
But he doesn’t haul around a Ghostbusters lunchbox or wear a Magic Johnson Lakers jersey, and I’d like to credit Daley & Goldstein for having a lot of tact and restraint that other filmmakers often don’t.
Mayday movie rating and final thoughts
The film is a small screen blockbuster first and foremost, and I don’t intend for that to be a complete knock against it. Daley & Goldstein can undoubtedly kick the filmmaking up a notch when they want. There are several sequences in the film where you can feel them turn it up to 11. But when they want the characters to take the forefront, they seem afraid to distract with anything more visually interesting than a shot-reverse-shot.
There is, however, one sequence in the film that finally melds thoughtful filmmaking and character into one, and it’s perhaps my favorite beat of the film. I only sometimes wonder what a film from them could look like if it had that same energy from start to finish.
In 2026, in the midst of a modern Red Scare, setting the film in 80s Soviet Russia so intentionally comes alongside a question: “why?” It’s been more than 40 years since Rocky 4, and I think everything has been depreciating in the “US vs. Russia” cultural conversation since.
Instead of reheating leftovers, Daley & Goldstein sidestep the conversation entirely. This movie reassures us that humanity and community matter more than government and country. It may not satisfy any political conversation, but its appreciation and value for the responsibility we have to ourselves and the people around us to make the world a better place is worthy of admiration. And the warmth with which it’s delivered makes Mayday a movie that I think is more than worth the time.
Also check out: Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
