'Mayday' Review
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 40 Minutes
Production Companies: Queen's Army, Complementary Colors, Secret Engine
Distributor: N/A
Director: Karen Cinorre
Writer: Karen Cinorre
Cast: Grace Van Patten, Mia Goth, Juliette Lewis, Soko, Havana Rose Liu
Release Date: TBA
An unusual storm is approaching, and it’s about to change everything for Ana (Grace Van Patten). After a short circuit at her workplace mysteriously transports her to an alternate world, she meets a crew of female soldiers caught in an endless war. Along a strange and rugged coastline, men face the stark truth lurking behind damsels who appear to be in distress. Under the leadership of Marsha (Mia Goth), Ana trains as a sharpshooter and discovers newfound freedom in this uninhibited sisterhood. She soon senses she may not be the ruthless killer they expect, though, and time is running out for her to find a path home.
If there’s anyone in Mayday who gets to shine more than anyone else it’s Mia Goth. She often plays the role of a quiet and timid supporting character who isn’t given much agency. Granted, she’s good in those roles and always proves herself to be a prominent presence with her talent. While she isn’t necessarily the lead in this film, Mia Goth steals the show as Marsha, the leader of her small ragtag group of female soldiers. Goth stands out as this confident and charismatic troop leader who commands the scene and even terrifies you to an extent with her chilling and cold demeanor. The film exudes a gender-reversed Lost Boys meets Lord of the Flies motif and though there are only four women on this island, Marsha’s clearly the Jack of the team. The film gives her a lot to do, even more so than Grace Van Patten, who is the lead character. Marsha is caught up in murdering men on-sight and while her motivations are thinly veiled, she’s so intoxicating to watch. If you catch Mia Goth slitting my throat, do not prosecute her because SHE caught ME slippin’!!! That is on me!!!
For what it’s worth, I adore the concept of Mayday. I’m a huge fan of fantasy stories about characters being magically whisked away to an alternate world where they must go on a self-fulfilling journey to find themselves and get back home. I enjoyed the first quarter of the film, especially with how it sets up Ana’s less than ideal, naturally humdrum world. She goes to work, catering for a wedding and trying her best to go about her daily duties. She notices that this workday is completely out of the ordinary as she keeps hearing a ringing voice in her ear spelling out “Mayday” Ana then experiences a dreadful wave of uneasiness from everything around her, especially the higher-up men in power. Out of the blue, a storm occurs, flooding the tight corridor that she’s in. After opening a door in the midst of the chaos, she finds herself transported to what appears to be the 20th-century era. It’s a relatively good setup that gets you invested in the story. Unfortunately, the rest of the film fails to live up to its potential.
Ana lands on the island of the 20th-century lost girls and meets Marsha, Gert (Soko), and Bea (Havana Rose Liu). When Marsha shows Ana the ropes, teaching her how to be a savage little siren as they pretend to be in distress to sink soldier men’s ships for the hell of it, the film immediately hits its stride. Writer/director Karen Cinorre delivers a fun, breezy celebration of female freedom and power from a familiar heterosexual feminist lens, but then it quickly becomes a series of repetitive sequences that don’t necessarily progress into any sort of a productive plot. The women don’t really do much outside of frolicking, swimming, stargazing, and sending men to their doom via radio transmissions. Though it gets darker in content as Marsha becomes militarily bloodthirsty, the film keeps meandering and becomes rather dull despite its promising potential.
Besides Marsha, none of the characters ever come across as enticing or fleshed out, Ana included. You have four women on this island and only one of them has a shred of a personality. Despite her arc being transparent as the ruthless yet confident leader who goes mad with power, at least it’s something. Everyone else is as bland as can be and, at best, is simply given a forgettable quirk. Ana is the audience's avatar, showing us a single setting through her perspective. Unfortunately, she’s not developed, given a clear arc, or given much character. She’s one of those bland leads who feels like a 2010s YA novel character where her only attribute — mistaken as a characteristic that sets her apart from others — is that she has a clear conscience and a better moral compass than her fellow comrades. It’s simply not enough and the film suffers for it. It’s a shame because Grace Van Patten tries her best to carry the film and clearly has a budding, likable dynamic with her co-stars, especially Goth.
Despite its captivating cinematography that adds to the mysterious and alluring atmosphere, Mayday is vague about the timeframe it’s set in. Is it World War I? WWII? The Cold War? I don’t know. There’s a huge aviation theme that’s incorporated and Marsha has major second-wave feminism energy. It hardly asks any questions and certainly doesn’t answer any.
There has been an abundant amount of dreamlike fantasy stories focused on women trapped on an island amongst themselves recently. A few years back, we had the impressive yet ambitiously insane film Paradise Hills and just recently there was The Wilds on Amazon Prime. Though the two vary in quality given their formats, they both had a clear identity and were able to tell their own stories with depth. What Mayday suffers from is a lack of identity to set it apart from the films it’s inspired by. I’m glad it has the integrity to not be an exploitative #GirlPower fantasy from the lens of a man trying to fulfill his own juvenile fantasies (cc: Assassination Nation, Sucker Punch), but I wish this film had one more writing pass to add more depth to the characters and more agency to the plot. It meanders so much, doing the same cycle for most of its runtime, and when it really starts to show some promise, its poignant metaphorical themes are too late on arrival to pique your interest. Mayday starts off with an enticing premise but its execution ultimately leaves much to be desired. Like the men in the movie, you’ll find yourself calling out for a connection. And like the women who answer their call, you’ll be led astray.
