Mayday (2026)

Mayday (2026) Review: A Cold War Buddy Comedy With Sharp Teeth

Jonathan Goldstein's Mayday (2026) lands in a sweet spot between espionage thriller and mismatched-buddy comedy, leaning hard on the chemistry between Ryan Reynolds' stranded Navy pilot Troy Kelly and Kenneth Branagh's delightfully unhinged ex-KGB operative Nikolai Ustinov. The film knows exactly what it is: a 111-minute diversion that privileges banter over geopolitical nuance, and it mostly succeeds because its leads commit to the bit without winking at the camera.

Direction and Tone: Goldstein's Action-Comedy Groove

Goldstein, reuniting with co-writer John Francis Daley and adding Adam Sand to the room, directs with the same kinetic confidence he brought to Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Action sequences are cleanly staged and occasionally inventive — a mid-film chase through a frozen Baltic port stands out — but the director's real strength remains pacing dialogue scenes like set pieces. The Cold War backdrop is rendered in broad, stylized strokes (think The Man from U.N.C.L.E. without the period fetishism), which keeps the tone light even when the body count rises. A few tonal whiplash moments in the third act suggest the script went through one rewrite too many, but the overall rhythm holds.

Performances: Reynolds and Branagh Make an Odd Couple Work

Reynolds does his familiar motormouth-charming routine, but he's smart enough to let Branagh steal scenes with a performance that's equal parts menace and melancholy. Branagh's Ustinov is a relic who quotes Pushkin while wiring explosives, and the actor finds humanity in the absurdity. Maria Bakalova, as Ustinov's sharp-tongued daughter Anna, gets less screen time than the marketing implies but makes every minute count. David Morse and Clark Johnson provide gravitas in supporting roles that could have been walk-ons. The ensemble clicks, and the "friendship with major red flags" tagline earns its keep.

Story and Pacing: Familiar Beats, Fresh Energy

The plot follows a well-worn template: pilot down, unlikely ally, race to extraction, betrayal, redemption. You've seen the architecture before. What distinguishes Mayday is the specificity of its jokes — a running gag about Soviet-era canned meat lands better than it has any right to — and a willingness to let quiet character beats breathe between explosions. The 111-minute runtime is disciplined; nothing overstays its welcome. Audience score data (7.9 from 580 votes) suggests the crowd-pleasing formula connects, though viewers allergic to Reynolds' schtick or formulaic spy tropes may find the charm wears thin by the finale.