Mayday on Apple TV has arrived worldwide, sending Ryan Reynolds behind Soviet lines and Kenneth Branagh charging into action in a very different salute to Top Gun. The 1987-set adventure began streaming September 4, 2026, mixing Cold War tension, buddy-comedy friction and blockbuster nostalgia across a brisk 110 to 112 minutes.
Writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the team behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, have not simply photocopied Maverick’s flight plan. Their PG-13 comedy uses the swagger of 1980s action cinema to question the easy patriotism that often powered it.
What happens in Mayday?
Reynolds plays Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a United States Navy pilot whose reconnaissance mission goes spectacularly wrong. Troy is flying a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird when he crashes behind enemy lines, leaving him stranded with confidence to spare and few practical options.
Help arrives from Nikolai “Nick” Ustinov, a gruff former KGB agent played by Branagh. Nick adores American culture and dreams of visiting the United States, which makes him an inconveniently useful ally for a pilot trained to regard every Soviet citizen as the enemy.
The pair reluctantly join forces to return Troy to American control. Naturally, the journey involves arguments, escapes, action set pieces and the gradual discovery that propaganda has not given either man the complete picture.
Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński and David Morse round out the supporting cast. Apple Studios, Skydance Media and Reynolds’ Maximum Effort produced the film.
How does the movie use Top Gun?
Troy’s call sign, aviator bravado and aggressive nationalism make the Top Gun comparison impossible to miss. Reynolds’ pilot initially treats the Cold War as a simple contest between heroes and villains, only for Nick to complicate that tidy worldview.
The tribute becomes literal when the film shows footage from Top Gun. Goldstein told GamesRadar+ at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 that the filmmakers needed Tom Cruise’s approval because the story takes place in 1987. Cruise granted permission.
Rather than treating Troy as an untouchable action icon, Mayday turns his arrogance into part of the joke. The comedy pushes him to reconsider the “us versus them” thinking he carries into Soviet territory, while still delivering the aircraft, uniforms and explosive spectacle expected from the genre.
Goldstein and Daley also did their homework. According to the Associated Press, they consulted SR-71 pilots and spent a night aboard a United States Navy aircraft carrier while researching the aerial sequences. The result aims for enough military texture to support the silliness without letting technical detail ground the fun.
Why does Kenneth Branagh become the main attraction?
Reynolds may be the star who helped get the project made, but Branagh has emerged as its not-so-secret weapon. Nick handles much of the physical comedy, action and emotional weight, while Reynolds plays a more restrained straight man than audiences saw in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Branagh told Esquire that accepting the role was “one of the simplest yeses ever.” He also trained extensively for the action because, as he put it, he did not want to “break anything.” That preparation matters in a role asking the veteran Shakespearean actor and filmmaker to become an oversized Cold War action hero with a soft center.
Daley told CinemaBlend that a Soviet-set period action-comedy was a “tough sell” before Reynolds and Maximum Effort became involved. In his view, Reynolds was one of only a handful of stars capable of getting such an unusual studio project moving.
That star power may have opened the hangar doors, but several reviews suggest Branagh walks away with the movie. Associated Press critic Lindsey Bahr called Reynolds’ character generic while crediting Branagh with supplying the comedy and soul. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, praised the infectious enthusiasm shared by both leads.
Are the Mayday reviews actually glowing?
The reception is positive overall, though hardly unanimous. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists an 83% critics’ score from 54 reviews, down from the 88% reported around launch. The audience rating remains based on fewer than 50 responses, so that number is still too small to carry much weight.
Variety critic Courtney Howard called it “one of the year’s best,” praising its balance of humor, heart and action. Screen Rant awarded the movie 7 out of 10 and presented it as a high point for the cast and filmmakers.
Other critics kept their feet more firmly on the runway. Bahr gave it 2½ stars out of four, while The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager found Reynolds “grating and corny” and Branagh one-note. The Guardian landed closer to the middle, describing the movie as goofy but entertaining.
That split makes the pitch fairly clear. Viewers looking for a serious espionage thriller may find the broad comedy too eager to perform. Anyone ready for Reynolds to lower the wisecrack setting while Branagh embraces action-star chaos should find considerably more to enjoy.
Rated PG-13 for violence, action, strong language, suggestive references and smoking, Mayday offers a warm-hearted alternative to straight-faced military spectacle. It salutes Top Gun, pokes at its chest-thumping attitude and then hands Branagh the biggest grin in the cockpit.
