What age is Mayday appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, alone or with a parent; 12 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is Mayday not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; gunfights and a bullet to remove; an interrogation and blackmail; vodka, cigarettes and swearing; darkness, cold, and the fear of the chase. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

Mayday: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2026 · 1 h 51 · action, comedy

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

89101112131415161718

not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone

The official US rating is PG-13, and we never go below it. Alone from 13, and not before, even with an adult.

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 12.

Watch the trailerContinue in zinemathen where to watch it, in zinema · more trailers, and where to watch films · Where to stream itWhere to watch

What it's about

When a U.S. Navy pilot on a top-secret mission during the Cold War gets trapped behind enemy lines, his only chance at survival is to form an alliance with an eccentric ex-KGB agent.

Why 13

The official rating, firstRated PG-13 in the US (parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.
rule
Gunfights and a bullet to removeThe film opens on a dogfight and an ejection, then chains chases, gunfire and brawls in the snow, with bodies left on the ground. The hardest moment is a makeshift operation: the pilot tied to a bed while a bullet is pulled out of him, blood clearly visible for about twenty seconds. The rest is movie action, fast and unindulgent.
shown
An interrogation and blackmailIn the last third, the two heroes fall into the hands of an officer who wants them to sign false confessions, threatens one man's family and reminds the other of his father's death. No torture shown, but real psychological pressure, and a betrayal between the two friends that hurts before it heals.
said
Vodka, cigarettes and swearingA lot of vodka is drunk, at the host's home as with the farmers who hide them, and people smoke on screen throughout; it is the Soviet backdrop of the 1980s, filmed with humour. Swearing is frequent (ass, shit, hell, damn).
shown
Darkness, cold, and the fear of the chaseMany night scenes, screaming during the chases, a trek on foot through hostile territory where you can feel nobody is coming for them. An eleven-year-old follows easily if the duo's humour carries him, and it does: this is first of all a buddy comedy.
shown

What the movie brings

An old-school comedy duo: the cocky pilot and the ex-spy who loves the America of the movies, each learning from the other.
The Cold War seen from the kitchen: ordinary Soviets hiding an American out of plain humanity.
The question of a promise: what is your word worth when your own side abandons you?

Watching it together

Before

The bullet extraction and the interrogation are the two passages to sit through with an eleven-year-old; the rest watches like an action movie with real laughs.

After

at 13 and up

Why does the pilot refuse to sign, when signing would save him?

See the facts

A weapon shown or used●●● · shownmeasured

Death of a character●●● · shownmeasured

Long dark scenes, night, storm●●● · shownmeasured

Pace●●● · shownmeasured

Visible injury, blood●●● · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

Alcohol●●○ · shownmeasured

Cruelty, torture, abuse●●○ · saidmeasured

Density of dialogue●●○ · shownmeasured

Disaster, destruction, war●●○ · shownmeasured

Fighting, brawls●●○ · shownmeasured

Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

Swearing●●○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●●○ · shownmeasured

Brands, products, merchandising : McDonald's●○○ · shownmeasured

Drugs●○○ · saidmeasured

Grief, sorrow●○○ · saidmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Mockery, humiliation, bullying●○○ · saidmeasured

Verbal threat or intimidation●○○ · saidmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Drive – The Pretenders 17
Once Upon a Time 12, 11 with a parent
La Bataille de Gaulle : J’écris ton nom 13, 12 with a parent
Matchbox the Movie 13

The latest guides

A zinema reading from September 16, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made