Mark Reviews Movies: MAYDAY

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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 30, 2021

A young woman—trapped in an unfulfilling life, generally ignored by people, specifically abused by one man—makes a choice near the start of Mayday. It seems to be a final one, but then, Ana (Grace Van Patten) gets something of a second chance, in a world of her own mind or within some supernatural realm.

Writer/director Karen Cinorre's debut feature is pretty blunt in its allegory, which isn't necessarily a flaw. The filmmaker wants to make a point and wants to ensure that point is made as clearly as possible.

In this world of Ana's imagination or afterlife, a war is unfolding. It's between women, in hiding and using subterfuge on some remote peninsula or island, and men, free to roam the rest of the world in ships and airplanes and submarines. The suggestion is that the era is World War II and that the men are engaged in their own battles. The women don't care about that. They just want to lure in and kill as many men, regardless of which side they're on, as they can.

The resulting story is appealingly cryptic and thematically potent at first, as we're introduced to a familiar but somewhat off-kilter world, as well as a few empowering but ultimately depressing ideas about women taking control of their lives, their decisions, and the fates of a gender that has so long suppressed that ability. It's empowering for the obvious reasons: the women along the shore of this place are tough, clever, filled with passion, and winning this war.

It's depressing because it has to come down to a series of violent fights for these women to make anything approaching progress. Let's also not forget that all of this is happening either in one woman's imagination or in some realm beyond the natural, living world. It's a dream of either the mind or the soul, and either way, that doesn't speak too kindly or optimistically of the real world.

There's a lot to ponder here, in other words. Well, there is at first, at least, until Cinorre's screenplay falls into a routine, fails to further develop its world and ideas, and seems to evade the broader critiques of society within the movie for a more personal revelation.

That might have worked, if not for how little information we receive about Ana and her life. The opening scenes take place in reality, where Ana is a server at a fancy restaurant. A wedding reception is about to begin, so Ana has brief conversations with her friend Dimitri (Théodore Pellerin), who might have a crush on her, and an older cook (Zlatko Buric), who's kind to her. Most unkind is the head waiter (Frano Maskovic), who berates Ana, throws her against a wall, and does something even worse to her behind a closed door.

Done with it all, Ana goes to the kitchen, opens an oven door, and sticks her head inside. She comes out the other end of the oven, though, and finds herself on the shore of some other place.

Marsha (Mia Goth), who was the bride at the party in the real world, finds Ana and brings her to a beached German submarine, where she, Bea (Havana Rose Liu), and Gert (Soko) use the radio to lure ships and planes into deadly storms. If any men survive and make it to the coast, it's the women's job to kill them.

All of this fantasy, of course, although Cinorre's decision to set this imagined tale of revenge and liberation within a familiar, historical era (re-created quite well by the production team) grounds it and its ideas. The basic thrust of the plot has Marsha teaching Ana about the ongoing war with men (in very vague terms, since it's entirely allegorical) and how to help.

As the four women lure in more men, Ana starts to become very adept at killing. Unlike her fellow soldiers, she can still recall her life, some of the people within it (who, like Marsha, appear as other characters within this imaginary place/afterlife), and how she died. The realization that Bea and Gert also committed suicide, on account of similar circumstances to Ana's troubles, only adds a layer of despair to the apparent wish-fulfillment here. They are just wishes, which can only be attained in some world beyond the real one.

The development and expansion of these rebellious ideas and difficult notions end there. Ana starts to feel uncomfortable and guilty about her penchant for killing (A stylish but hollow dance number, as explosions tower in the distance, signals that change). She suspects she can return to her life, and that sets in motion a daring escape plan and a conflict with an increasingly angry Marsha, who basically comes to represent, well, anger in the face of oppression and suppression.

It is all, again, pretty direct, as a battle between genders about society becomes a fight about feminism's methods in that battle. There's nothing wrong with such a straightforward approach, as long as the story and characters support or even elevate it in some way. Unfortunately, Mayday only sees them as an excuse for a half-hearted message.

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