Early critical reactions to Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh’s new war movie look promising. The film has opened to an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score ahead of its premiere.
Mayday is an upcoming action comedy film directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The movie will arrive on Apple TV on September 4, 2026.
Reynolds plays Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a US Air Force Pilot who finds himself in the Russian wilderness after ejecting his plane during a 1987 mission over Soviet Russia. There he meets Nikolai Ustinov, a former KGB agent played by Branagh. The two form an unlikely alliance when Nikolai agrees to help Troy escape enemy territory.
Mayday also stars Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński, David Morse, Lovell Adams-Gray, and many more.
What are critics saying about Mayday
At the time of this article’s publishing, Mayday holds an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes‘ Tomatometer. The movie has received mostly positive reviews, with many praising the actors’ performances and comedic chemistry.
RogerEbert.com’s Brian Tallerico writes, “It’s a movie that mostly works, thanks largely to fluid direction from the pair and a truly entertaining performance from Kenneth Branagh, flexing his comedic and action chops in a way he’s rarely allowed to.”
Aidan Kelley from Collider says, “Some filmmakers would crumble under the weight of the immense pressure of working with such big names on such a big project, but Goldstein and Daley have crafted yet another impeccable gem that is all but guaranteed to be Apple TV’s next big sleeper hit.”
According to Deadline’s Pete Hammond, “Daly and Goldstein drive both the action and comedy in style for this sort of thing, but it is the chemistry between the two leads that really makes it cook.”
However, some critics remain unimpressed. Nick Schager from The Daily Beast called the film “A mirthless mess whose ideas about 1980s international relations are almost as lousy as the incessant one-liners spouted by Reynolds.”
The Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter score for Mayday is not available yet.
