Reynolds and Branagh Team Up in Apple TV’s New Must-Watch Action Film Mayday

Apple TV has a new action film worth putting on the watchlist, with Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh forming an unlikely partnership in Cold War adventure Mayday.

The film is streaming now after launching globally on 4 September, combining spy thriller action with buddy comedy as an American pilot finds himself stranded deep inside Russian territory. Early reviews have also been strong, with Mayday currently sitting at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 90 critics.

Ryan plays Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a confident US Navy pilot sent into Russian territory on a highly secretive mission during the height of the Cold War. Everything quickly goes wrong, leaving Troy trapped behind enemy lines with seemingly no way home.

His chances change when he encounters Nikolai Ustinov, a former KGB agent played by Kenneth. Nikolai has developed a fascination with American culture, creating the foundations for a very unlikely alliance between two men who should technically be on opposite sides.

Mayday uses that relationship to give its Cold War story a much lighter and more entertaining edge. There is plenty of action surrounding Troy’s attempt to escape, but the growing friendship between the two men becomes just as important as the mission itself.

The pairing is also one of the biggest reasons to watch. Ryan brings the rapid comedy audiences will immediately recognise, while Kenneth gets a much more eccentric role than viewers might expect from the Oscar winning actor and filmmaker.

Maria Bakalova also stars as Anna Ustinov, while Marcin Dorociński plays Alexander Volkov and David Morse appears as Harold Kelly. The film runs for around one hour and 50 minutes, making it an easy standalone watch for anyone who does not want to commit to another multi episode series.

Mayday comes from the filmmaking team behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and that combination of action, comedy and unlikely characters is immediately apparent here. Rather than treating the Cold War setting as a completely serious historical backdrop, the film uses it to create a larger action adventure built around two characters discovering they may have more in common than either expected.

The reaction from critics gives viewers another reason to give it a try. Mayday currently holds an 83% Tomatometer score, although audience reaction has been a little more mixed, with the Popcornmeter sitting at 65% at the time of publication.

For anyone scrolling through Apple TV looking for a big new film rather than another prestige drama, Mayday is one of the service’s most prominent new releases. Ryan and Kenneth are an unusual screen pairing, but that is exactly what makes this Cold War adventure stand out.

Watch the Official Trailer:

Apple TV has released the official trailer for Mayday, showing Troy’s disastrous mission, his encounter with Nikolai and the action that follows as the unlikely pair try to find a way out of increasingly dangerous territory.

Mayday is streaming now exclusively on Apple TV. Keep checking SoapLandTV for more of the biggest TV and film releases genuinely worth adding to your watchlist.