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Mayday
Score: 88%
Rating: 14+
Publisher: Acorn Media
Region: 1
Media: DVD/2
Running Time: 280 Mins.
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mini-series
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH

Features:
  • The Making of Mayday
  • Photo Gallery

Mayday is a dark tale about a 14-year-old girl who goes missing in a small town, and the implications, suspicion, and devastation that arise as a result.

When Hattie Sutton (Leila Mimmack), the May Day queen, vanishes on her way to the annual May Day parade, the entire town goes into a stir. Hattie is a town favorite, at least for most people, and is completely unlike her dark-haired twin, Caitlin. Instead of wearing dark apparel and being a loner who spends her time making out with local boys like Caitlin does, blonde-haired Hattie prefers to spend her time in contemplative peace and Druid worship in the woods surrounding their small village.

For such a small town, there are a surprising number of potential suspects and, as the story unfolds, it tends to be the various family members of these men who suspect and investigate them. For one, there's Malcolm Spicer (Peter Firth), a real estate developer who was financially devastated when his planned community was stopped by Hattie and her nature-loving protest group. Malcolm's insufferable wife Gail (Lesley Manville) suspects her husband because of a lie she catches him in regarding the inordinate time he spends out in the woods, and who could hate Hattie more than Malcolm?

Then there's handsome and mysterious Everett Newcombe (Aidan Gillen, Game of Thrones) who spends all of his time playing videogames or drinking at the pub, while dating much younger blonde-haired women. His son, Linus (Max Fowler) becomes increasingly suspicious of his father's behavior, especially since they live next door to the Sutton family and his father has never been the same since the "accidental" death of his mother a decade earlier. Linus also happens to be madly and silently in love with Caitlin, so when Hattie disappears, he jumps in to help Caitlin as much as possible.

Then there's Fiona Hill (Sophie Okonedo), former police officer and current full-time mom to three kids, while her husband Alan (Peter McDonald) is still on the force. The pair have been having some marital problems lately, but all of a sudden, Alan is jumping back into Fi's bed eagerly and he's been acting a bit odd, as well. Fi loves her husband and family and she pushes the suspicions and clues from her mind, focusing on spying on neighbor Everett instead.

Then there's Steve Docker (Sam Spruell), whose wife took their infant son away years ago. Steve struggles in life, especially with his mentally ill brother Seth (Tom Fisher), who spends all of his time in woods and acts oddly all the time. What makes things more difficult for Steve is the fact that, while he suspects Seth of having something to do with Hattie's disappearance, Hattie's mother is Steve's ex-wife's sister, and if he can help find Hattie, perhaps he can be allowed back into the family and get to see his young son again.

The cast of Mayday is diverse and fantastic. It's a slowly-moving drama thriller, brilliantly written and directed, that builds over the course of five episodes. I enjoyed the fact that it didn't focus on the police investigation at all, but instead, of the personal investigations (and sometimes lynch mobs) that were going on among the townspeople, themselves. There are only two special features: a photo gallery and a behind the scenes featurette and both are okay, but nothing spectacular.

While not for everyone, Mayday is a good watch for anyone interested in a deep and dark thriller with a hint of the supernatural going on. Also, the end is great, somehow simultaneously wrapping things up, but also leaving the door open for more should the show continue on.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins
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