Aahana Swrup
‘Mayday’ is a buddy comedy film set in the midst of the Cold War. Lieutenant Troy Kelly is a Navy pilot who gets recruited for a black ops mission to run reconnaissance behind enemy lines in Russia. However, things go south when his fighter jet gets shot down, leaving him stranded in enemy territory. Fortunately for the pilot, he just so manages to end up in the company of Nikolai Ustinov, a Russian citizen with a dark past, who harbors a love for all things American. As a result, an unlikely partnership is struck up between the two as they decide to work together in evading the Russian authorities long enough to find safe passage to the Land of the Free. Yet, in a time of heightened paranoia, the friendship between Troy and Nick remains fragile, leaving them vulnerable and capable of bringing about their own demise. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Mayday Plot Synopsis
In 1987, a US Navy squadron run test flights over the Pacific Ocean. Near the end, as the others gear up for landing, Boomer realizes there’s something wrong with his aileron, which eliminates the possibility of a touchdown. However, his fellow pilot, Troy “Assassin” Kelly, saves him from the disruption of an abrupt ejection by performing a risky maneuver and fixing up the other’s aircraft. In the aftermath, as both the pilots and their vessels pull off a safe landing, Troy’s daring and successful troubleshooting attracts the attention of the higher-ups. As a result, he’s recruited for a top-secret CIA mission, in which he’s needed to fly into Russian territory at high altitude as a spy plane to collect intelligence.
Although the preparations are in place, the mission itself takes a turn for the worse when Troy and his fellow spy pilot, Sanders, gain a bogey on their tail. In the firefight that follows, Sanders’ plane gets shot down while the other only barely manages to eject in time to save his life. Even so, the chaotic crash landing that follows leaves him vulnerable in the snowy forests of the enemy country. Afterward, Troy wakes in a strange cabin, tied to a bed, where he meets his rescuer, Nikolai Ustinov, aka Nick. The stranger reveals himself to be a great admirer of American culture. He even has a bootleg copy of the movie ‘Top Gun,’ which he has watched hundreds of times. As such, he’s fairly starstruck to meet an American naval pilot. Initially, Troy assumes he isn’t safe with the Russian citizen, regardless of his idolization of America.
For the same reason, he escapes the cabin and attempts to make a call to the US Embassy from a nearby bar. However, he attracts the wrong kind of attention and ends up in a bar fight, from which he has to be rescued by Nick. While the instance strengthens Troy’s trust in the stranger, it also leads to the revelation about the Russian’s KGB-affiliated past. Around the same time, the authorities learn about the crash landing of an American pilot on Russian soil. As a result, a game of cat and mouse breaks out, forcing Troy and Nick into many adventures, such as surviving a house search by KGB officer Alexander Volkov, traveling through a troop train, and hiding out in a small local village. Eventually, they reach Lake Vohze, where the house of a high-ranking KGB officer is located.
The duo breaks in and steals an Altai phone, which allows Troy to make a non-traceable call to the Embassy. However, he’s told that since he was running a black ops mission, the government can’t sanction an evacuation mission for him. Instead, he must come to the Embassy in Moscow. Thus, the duo embarks on an uneventful road trip to the city, from where they plan on picking up Anna, Nick’s estranged daughter. Nonetheless, after narrowly escaping the KGB, the daughter informs her father that she doesn’t wish to leave her homeland. The next morning, Nick overhears a call between Troy and the Embassy, in which the pilot learns that, regardless of the situation, the American Ambassador has refused to grant asylum to a former KGB agent. When the latter fails to share this information with his ally, Nick makes a tough decision and hands Troy over to Volkov.
Mayday Ending: Does Nick Get Asylum in America? How?
From the get-go, the idea of Nick escaping to America with Troy remains an uncertainty. Russian citizens aren’t allowed to immigrate to the States, and his ex-KGB status makes things all the more difficult. Even so, the hotshot pilot convinces his only ally behind enemy lines that the authorities will make an exception for him. Nonetheless, Troy eventually realizes he was wrong and that the Ambassador isn’t willing to bend any rules, even for a national hero. This puts the American pilot in an impossible situation. If he tells Nick that he was wrong to put his trust in Troy and America, he runs the risk of being abandoned at the last leg of the race. For the same reason, he decides to sit on the secret until the car ride over to the Embassy.
However, by then, Nick has already gotten his confirmation that his American friend is going to backstab him for his own safety. Therefore, he decides to play the same game and reach out to Volkov to turn the pilot in to KGB custody. Nonetheless, the Red Army is never one to play fair. Instead of giving the ex-State Security officer his promised freedom, the KGB Agent kidnaps both Nick and Troy and takes them to a blacksite. As it turns out, Volkov has gone rogue and is after an agenda of his own. He wants either Nick or Troy to sign a confession confirming that the naval pilot’s presence in the country was with the intention of assassinating the President. Nevertheless, Troy refuses to comply. Before coming to Russia, he had a narrow-minded view of the kind of people who lived there.
Troy believed that Russian citizens were products of the system they inhabit, which in turn would make them cold and heartless. Nonetheless, ever since meeting Nick, he has learned time and again that people, regardless of borders, have the capacity and tendency to be good and kind. Therefore, he refuses to sign Volkov’s confession, refusing to play a part in allowing his government to continue lying to and manipulating its citizens. In the aftermath, he and Nick manage to fight their way out of the RGB’s custody, making a run for their lives. As they find themselves face-to-face with Moscow’s Mayday parade, it gives them the opportunity to steal a mobile launcher as their getaway vehicle. As a result, even though the KGB follows them as they make their way to the nearest airstrip, no one can fire upon them.
The car ride also allows the duo to clear the air between them, exchanging apologies and extending olive branches. Once at the airport, in the absence of a private jet, Troy ends up commandeering a recently landed commercial airplane. After a brief mid-air combat with Volvok, the duo is finally free of the Red Army’s clutches. Yet, a new problem presents itself. The busted-up plane is already running low on fuel as they fly over the Baltic Sea. This limits their option for a safe landing. Even so, when Troy gets permission to land on Captain Anderton’s aircraft carrier, he puts forth a condition. He refuses to land until the Ambassador permits permanent residence to Nickolai as an asylum seeker in the United States. The high-pressure situation, paired with Troy’s ultimate, finally strong-arms the government to make the right decision and reward the ex-RGB agent for selflessly helping an American hero pilot.
What Happened to Nick’s Dad?
During Volkov’s interrogation, Troy learns a heartbreaking truth about the government to which he has pledged his loyalty. We find out early on that the pilot’s father, who was an engineer for the Navy, has a cancer diagnosis that will likely lead to his death. However, the KGB agent reveals that the malignant pleural mesothelioma was a direct result of the US government’s willful negligence and profit-chasing priorities. Apparently, the engineers working at the San Diego shipyards were exposed to high levels of asbestos for 32 long years. Even though the military knew about the cancer-causing environment, they decided to keep it a secret in order to save money.
In fact, Volvok has a copy of a classified letter penned by the Secretary of the Navy admitting as much. When Troy and Nick orchestrate their exit from the blacksite, the latter grabs the copy of the letter as assurance. Afterward, once on US soil, the pilot goes on to use it to hold his government responsible. Initially, he raises the issue before a hearing board and demands acknowledgment of the greedy oversight. Moreover, he wants the military to set up a compensation committee to pay reparations. When it becomes clear that the authorities don’t intend to take him seriously, he reveals that he has a copy of the official classified document. As such, the government will have no choice but to comply with his demands or risk public outcry.
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What Happens to Anna? Is She Safe in Russia?
When Nick first agrees to help Troy with his plan to escape Russia, it’s on the condition that he and his daughter will be granted asylum in the States. However, getting Anna to agree to the plan remains a difficult task in its own right. Nick’s history as a KGB officer has created a history of friction and estrangement between the two. After he knocks on her door, with a few of the Red Army on his tail, she has no choice but to escape with them. Yet, in the aftermath, as they lie low in her hideout, she remains cold towards her father. During this time, Troy learns that Anna is actually a part of a covert human rights organization that is rebelling against the government. Additionally, he also learns that she is a lesbian.
Anna thinks that Nick is oblivious to this fact, and she is in no rush to tell him. This is partly because of his KGB history and the fact that homosexuality is outlawed in the country. However, Troy also discovers that the ex-KGB officer actually knows about his daughter’s sexuality and is waiting for her to come out to him. He helps his friend realize that he’s the one who has to take the first step as the father. Thus, over the course of a single conversation, Nick and Anna overcome their differences. Nevertheless, the next morning, the latter leaves, leaving behind a photograph of herself and her girlfriend as well as a note for her father. Her political dissent and her sexuality put her at risk in Russia. Even so, at the end of the day, Anna wants to try to fix her home rather than running away from it.
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