Critic Reviews

It was lyrical and profound, a two-hour meditation on male friendship and childhood bonds, which can sometimes prove as grand a passion as romantic love. It was also a study of what constitutes a "good" death and the importance of dignity in the midst of suffering.

Mayflies emerges as a fearlessly expressive poem about life, death and love, at once heartbreaking and uplifting. What a powerful drama to see out the old year.

Anyone who has witnessed a loved one’s struggle for dignity and control amid the general rout of death, or been at a wedding where one of the couple is dying, will find the drama resonates.

Anchored by Compston's thoughtful and big-hearted performance opposite Tony Curran, it was a beautifully raw portrait of male friendship and the struggle, which kicks in from middle age onwards, to come to terms with mortality.

Tender, to a fault, Mayflies poignantly captures life's terminal evanescence.

This story of departures – from home, from life – couldn’t cast too gloomy a pall. It was also a warm, sentimental hymn to friendship with all its rites and reference points (De Niro, Dalglish, Aztec Camera).

Mayflies is an affecting story of a friendship tested by end-of-life issues, with some fantastic performances from Compston, Curran and Jensen.

When a story is as slight as this, and particularly when it's so emotionally distressing, character is everything, and these characters needed more time to be thoroughly explored. However, in the end it must be noted that emotionally the denouement simply works.