On the surface, Mayday, the new Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh movie that began streaming on Apple TV+ today, looks like just another action comedy with Russian villains.

But underneath the sexual innuendos and Top Gun references, there is a thread of a centuries-old debate: the Eastern ideal of collectivism, vs. the Western ideal of individualism. And while Mayday isn’t quite brave enough to actually critique America in any meaningful way, it does take a cheeky swipe at our “every man for himself” mentality, with one perfectly-time joke.

Written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley—the duo behind Game Night and the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie—Mayday stars Reynolds as a US Air Force Pilot named Troy, who crash lands behind enemy lines in Soviet Russia in 1987, during the Gorbachev years of the Cold War. Troy loves America, loves capitalism, and, like any good U.S. soldier, hates the oppressive Russian communist rule.

“Collectivism is always at the cost of individual freedom,” Troy informs his Army buddies during a night out on the town. Sure, it’s a little on the nose—a little too eloquent and philosophical for a drunk Air Force pilot—but it signals to the viewers that this is not, in fact, just another “Russia bad, America good” action comedy. This is a movie that is going to, if not subvert that trope (which it ultimately did not, to my disappointment), at least inject a little more nuance into it.

When a spy mission goes wrong, Troy finds himself injured and trapped in the remote home of Russian carpenter, Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh, doing a very fun, very silly Russian accent). Nikolai—or, Nick, as he insists Troy call him—idolizes American capitalism. His favorite movie is Top Gun. He dreams of someday eating McDonalds. And his ultimate dream? To live in the U.S. Troy strikes up a deal: If Nick helps him get out of Russia, he’ll pull some strings and get Nick legal passage to the U.S. And then they are off, on their various silly shenanigans.

One adventure leads them to the home of an impoverished Russian family. Having just escaped another scrape, Troy and Nick are out the cold, hungry, and tired. They need shelter for the night. Despite Troy’s apprehension, Nick knocks on the door of a nearby home, and asks for help. And, to Troy’s shock, it’s that easy. The family takes them in, welcomes them, and feeds them a hot meal. While eating, Nick relays to Troy that family is very poor, and barely has enough food to themselves.

“Then why would they let us in?” Troy asks, bewildered.

“If someone came to the door in America and asked for help, wouldn’t they be taken in?” Nick replies, still assuming the best about this country he idolizes.

Troy stares at Nick blankly for a moment, before he rushes to say, “Of course they would!” with a nervous chuckle.

The answer satisfies Nick. But the audience hears the joke, thanks to Reynold’s spot-on timing and subtle indicators in his performance. In fact, Troy is not certain that a stranger would be taken in if they knocked on a door in the U.S. and asked for help. It’s 1987, Reagan is president, greed is good, and a man’s home is his castle. His resources are for him and his family, and no one else. It’s an American homeowner’s right to demand strangers stay off their private property. Sometimes with a gun in hand, if necessary.

This scene is as close as the movie ever gets to an endorsement of collectivism and an indictment of individualism. Later, Troy will admit his country isn’t “perfect,” but doesn’t really go into details as to why that is. But this one small moment says so much. If not for the spirit of collectivism, of sharing resources—the same ideas Troy dismissed at the beginning of the film—Troy may not have made it out of Russia alive.

In the end, Mayday still indulges in the “evil Russian villain” trope. But thanks to that one perfect joke, it does so with considerable more nuance than the vast majority of American action flicks. For a Ryan Reynolds comedy, funded by one of America’s biggest corporations, that’s pretty impressive.