Mayday

Plot

In 1987, US Navy Lieutenant Troy "Assassin" Kelly rescues his wingman who is unable to land on an aircraft carrier. After they safely land, he is asked to fly the SR-71 Blackbird with US Air Force pilot Major Sanders. They are intercepted by a MiG and Sanders is killed; Kelly maneuvers to collide with the MiG and ejects. After he lands, he is rescued by Nikolai Ustinov, a former KGB officer and a fan of American culture. Ustinov regrets his time in the KGB and hopes to help Kelly and one day live in the US. Kelly attempts to flee, and is rescued by Ustinov, who hides him from search efforts from the KGB, led by Alexander Volkov.

Ustinov takes Kelly on a train, but they are identified by Russian military and are forced to jump off the train. They flee to a dacha and call the US Embassy in Moscow and are told to meet there. As they flee to Moscow, Volkov sees a record of their call. Once Kelly and Ustinov arrive in Moscow, they visit Ustinov's daughter, but are forced from her apartment when it is attacked by Volkov's agents. The next morning, Kelly calls to arrange his rendezvous with the embassy, and they reveal that they will not provide immunity to Ustinov; unknown to Kelly, Ustinov hears this.

Ustinov hands Kelly to Volkov, who interrogates them both; he attempts to force them to sign a confession, but Ustinov grabs a pen and stabs Volkov, and he and Kelly flee and steal a mobile nuclear launcher. They reconcile when Kelly tells Ustinov why his call sign is "Assassin". They flee to the airport and steal a plane, which is boarded by Volkov as they take off. Kelly kills Volkov by throwing him off the plane. Kelly realizes they cannot make it to friendly territory in Finland. They land on the USS Carl Vinson after Kelly negotiates immunity for Ustinov.

After the mission, Kelly testifies to Congress about receiving intelligence that the US Navy knowingly exposed its shipyard workers to asbestos despite its carcinogenic effects, and is discharged from the Navy. He and Ustinov eat at McDonalds and talk about taking a trip across the country in Ustinov's RV.

Cast

Ryan Reynolds as Troy "Assassin" Kelly

Kenneth Branagh as Nikolai Ustinov

Marcin Dorociński as Alexander Volkov

Maria Bakalova as Anna Ustinov

David Morse as Harold Kelly

Clark Johnson as Keith Hardwick

Wendy Crewson as Karen Meadows

Louis Cancelmi as Pete Sanders

Josh Hamilton as Dan Hennessy

Lovell Adams-Gray as Tomas "Boomer" Garcia

Alex Mallari Jr. as Danny "Longshot" Bowers

Alex Ozerov as Viktor

Production

In June 2023, it was announced that an original action adventure film titled Mayday was in development for Apple TV+, with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley writing and directing as well as Ryan Reynolds (who would also produce through Maximum Effort) and Kenneth Branagh in the lead roles. In April 2024, Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński, Lovell Adams-Gray and Clark Johnson were added to the cast. David Morse also joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography began in Montreal on March 4, 2024, and wrapped on May 8, under the working title Blackbird. The final stage of filming was in Budapest.

Release

Mayday was released on Apple TV on September 4, 2026.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 96 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.