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Mayday arrives worldwide on Apple TV today, bringing Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh together in a Cold War action comedy whose Soviet-era world was built in part across Budapest and at Korda Studios.
The September 4 release follows the film’s world premiere in New York three days earlier. Written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the Apple Original Film completes a production journey that began in Hungary more than two years ago.
An unlikely alliance behind enemy lines
Set in 1987, Mayday follows Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a US Navy pilot sent on a covert mission over Soviet territory. When the operation collapses and leaves him stranded behind enemy lines, his best chance of survival arrives in the unlikely form of Nikolai Ustinov, an eccentric former KGB agent played by Branagh.
Nikolai’s fascination with American popular culture turns the familiar Cold War confrontation into a mismatched buddy comedy. Reynolds brings his characteristic rapid-fire delivery to the American pilot, while Branagh plays his reluctant ally with a mixture of restraint, physical comedy and enthusiasm for an America the character has largely encountered through films and bootlegged media.
The supporting cast includes Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorociński, David Morse, Lovell Adams-Gray and Clark Johnson.
The Hungarian shoot reaches the finished film
Hungary formed one part of the wider international production, with filming taking place around Budapest in spring 2024 and further work completed at Korda Studios in Etyek.
When Apple released the first footage in July, Budapest Reporter examined how the trailer transformed Hungarian locations into sections of the film’s fictional Soviet environment. Heroes’ Square was among the most visible locations, while Korda Studios provided controlled spaces for interiors and larger action sequences.
The completed film now shows how those locations and studio environments function within the wider story. Budapest does not appear as itself; its architecture and production infrastructure instead provide the scale required for an action adventure moving between espionage, comedy and period spectacle.
Early reviews favour the central partnership
The first reviews have responded most consistently to the chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh, even when critics have been less persuaded by the familiarity of the plot.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as a “goofy but entertaining” action comedy, highlighting its central pairing and Branagh’s unexpected physical performance.
The Los Angeles Times similarly found the two stars’ enthusiasm infectious, presenting the film as an affectionate throwback to the buddy adventures and Cold War action movies of the 1980s.
TheWrap offered a more qualified assessment of the narrative, describing the story as familiar while praising the production’s composition, action staging and visual confidence. Its review argues that Mayday gives a streaming comedy the appearance and energy of a considerably larger theatrical release.
The early response is therefore positive without being unreserved. Rather than reinventing the Cold War thriller, the film appears to rely on the contrast between its stars, its self-aware 1980s nostalgia and the scale of the world constructed around them.
With Mayday now reaching viewers worldwide, the Budapest locations and Etyek studio environments previously seen only through production reports and trailer images have become part of the completed Apple adventure.
Mayday is available worldwide on Apple TV from September 4, 2026.
