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  1. Wokeometer
  2. Movies
  3. Mayday
Mayday
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Mayday

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Mayday

Mayday

movie·PG-13·Sep 3, 2026·
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Mayday

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Digital video
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Mayday

movie
PG-13
September 3, 2026
Wokeometer Rating
2Based
Audience Woke Score
5/10
Mixed
5 Ratings
Scale: 0 = not woke, 10 = maximally woke

TL;DR Verdict

Mayday scores a low 2/10 by sticking to classic Cold War spy-thriller buddy comedy with Troy Kelly and Nikolai Ustinov, delivering pure story-driven entertainment without identity politics or activist messaging.

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Detailed Analysis

Mayday delivers a traditional Cold War spy-thriller buddy comedy centered on U.S. Navy pilot Troy Kelly ejecting over the Soviet Union and teaming with eccentric ex-KGB agent Nikolai Ustinov, an American pop-culture obsessive who aids his escape while they bond over shared references like Top Gun.

The premise, plot progression, and character arcs stay firmly in entertainment territory, with no identity-politics framing, systemic-oppression narratives, or activist messaging inserted into the story. A light thematic aside questioning 1980s national pride and fanaticism appears only as a minor note, never rising to lecture moments or driving any plot development. Casting aligns with the 1987 historical setting through leads Ryan Reynolds as Troy Kelly and Kenneth Branagh as Nikolai Ustinov, while Maria Bakalova plays Anna Ustinov and other supporting performers fill background roles without narrative emphasis or alterations to source material. Directors and cast have described the project as entertainment-first, confirming the absence of DEI mandates or forced ideological elements, which keeps the focus on buddy-comedy dynamics and period action rather than contemporary messaging.

Key Factors

  • Traditional Cold War spy-thriller buddy comedy with no activist themes or identity focus
  • Casting fits historical setting (Reynolds and Branagh as leads; Maria Bakalova as Anna Ustinov); diverse supporting actors appear incidentally without narrative emphasis
  • Directors and cast note light questioning of 1980s national pride/fanaticism as a minor thematic aside in an entertainment-driven story with no lecture moments or centrality to the plot

Methodology: Each score synthesizes audience discourse, critic and aggregator reception, and press coverage — weighed against the work itself, not any single source.

Detailed BreakdownPro

Free Preview1 of 5 categories unlocked
Corporate & Creator Activism0

Directors and cast emphasize entertainment-first priorities with confirmed absence of DEI initiatives or progressive marketing focus.

Identity Politics & Racial Essentialism
Gender Ideology & LGBTQ+ Themes
DEI Casting & Representation Mandates
Preachiness & Message-First Agenda

Unlock the other 4 categories — including Identity Politics and Gender Ideology — with detailed explanations.

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Directed by

  • John Francis Daley
  • Jonathan Goldstein

Is Mayday Woke?

We've run a full content analysis on Mayday and scored it 2/10 on the woke scale. Read our detailed breakdown above to see exactly what we found.

Audience Fit
2.5/5
Mixed fit

Audience Fit is the inverse of the community's average woke rating of 5/10: the less woke our audience finds a title, the more stars it earns. Based on 5 audience ratings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of woke content is in Mayday?

Our analysis checks for themes like identity politics, race-swapping, gender ideology, environmental activism, anti-religious messaging, and other progressive agenda elements. The score breakdown above shows which specific categories were flagged and how heavily they factor into Mayday's overall score.

Is Mayday family-friendly?

Wokeometer focuses on ideological content rather than traditional ratings (violence, language, etc.). Mayday is rated PG-13. For a full picture, combine our woke analysis with the age rating to decide if it's right for your family.

How does Wokeometer score movies?

We evaluate media across multiple ideological categories on a 0–10 scale. Scores of 0–3 mean story-first, 4–6 have moderate elements, and 7–10 flag heavily agenda-driven content. Learn more about our methodology →

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Top Cast

Ryan Reynolds
2Based

Ryan Reynolds

Troy Kelly

Kenneth Branagh
2.6Based

Kenneth Branagh

Nikolai Ustinov

Maria Bakalova
3.4Based

Maria Bakalova

Anna Ustinov

Marcin Dorociński
1Based

Marcin Dorociński

Alexander Volkov

David Morse
2.8Based

David Morse

Harold Kelly

Lovell Adams-Gray
2Based

Lovell Adams-Gray

Clark Johnson
2Based

Clark Johnson

Wendy Crewson
2.2Based

Wendy Crewson

Louis Cancelmi
3.7Based

Louis Cancelmi

Josh Hamilton
1.6Based

Josh Hamilton

Consul General Dan Hennessy

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