Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: MAYDAY [International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021 - Virtual]
The process of inner life and the perception and perspective are indicative of individuals but "Mayday" [Limelight], which premiered at Sundance right before IFF Rotterdam, is an analysis on fear vs. strength in the light of continued subjugation. Grace Van Patten, niece of the famous sitcom star, stars as Ana, a woman who finds herself transported to a deserted island when her daily life takes a vicious turn. There, in a way, she is able to fight back, especially against the men who have lied to her and made her life hell. The anger is a projection in many ways but the way writer/director Karen Cinorre builds this alternate or semi-real psychosis of reality for Ana is an interesting idea. The island per se is stuck during World War II apparently, location unknown. The surrounding water of the island is continually caught in a storm which lures pilots and sailors to their deaths, most of the time at the hands of the sharpshooting women. Another element of the construct are the girls that are in there with Ana. Granted they take shape as different parts of her internal psychological make up: one is aggression, one is passion, one is intelligence, etc. The movie is overt in these themes but also allows them room to evolve. The aspect of having some characters mirror in the real world is a nice ode.
Mia Goth plays Marsha, who might reflect aggression, and hers is an eye-opening flip of a performance after her supporting turn in "Emma" early last year. Sporting a blond wig or cut, she is fierce, more so than Ana, who is struggling with her reason. The rub is that the girls on the island don't remember their life was before, only that they have to fight and they are angry. They lure the pilots to their death with fake distress signals, again a continuing metaphor. There is of course a mythological balance as well with odes to sirens inherent in the summons throughout the film. The key being it is all the part of Ana's personality, including a character played by Juliette Lewis on the outset who just wants to be left alone. Again, this represents another part of her psyche. And Lewis alone, because of some of the films in her career, especially "Natural Born Killers", gives an added tinge more of context. The movie, especially with its themes of water, also tries to be a catalyst of rebirth while still acknowledging the storm underneath. "Mayday" has many distinct themes about the nature of self but also women combatting aggression and subjugation in the modern world, both externally and inside their own minds. B-
By Tim Wassberg
